Then There Were Two
by Jordanzz
Summary: Ghost, a lone assassin whose been working to avenge those who had fallen to the White Masks. But all it takes is one mission to go wrong to have you end up in the part of the world you never expected to ever be in with a team to back you up. OC/Dokkaebi
1. Great First Day

**Holy** **shit I can not believe that I'm back on fanfiction but this story isn't going to be deleted if I get a lack of views like my last I guess you can call an attempt at something like this. Only difference is that this story will be purely in the same universe rather than two different onea being combined.**

 **I'll be honest, I did not expect me to come back and write this but I felt the time was right as my muse for writing decided to come back as something I'm extremely excited to write rather than just another story that was a couple of ideas put together and held by just some tape and glue lazily applied in hopes of it working out one way or another. I have this planned out and I don't actually expect this to take up that many chapters but I've lied in the past about how many chapters there are so do not always trust my word.**

 **This story is indeed a romance story as I loved Grace "Dokkaebi" Nam as a character but I felt all the other operators just didn't pair up with her that well in any ships I had thought of Maverick came close but I decided against it to go with something else like most of thes siege stories tend to be and end up as.**

 **Bringing this author's note to an end, I want to finish with saying this. This story takes place after most, if not all the already canon events. They will be mentioned but probably not written out in this story. The other thing is that there will be one, maybe 2 OC characters. One will be one of my own that will be apart of the ship and as the main character. The other if he/she makes it in is a friend of mine's as they've been with my on this websit since the day I posted the very first time I had posted anything on this website helping every here and there along the way.**

 **Anyways, I hope that anybody who reads this enjoys the story and or chapter and that you have a nice day! Ciao my comrades and may Lord Tachanka bless you all.**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/9/19**

 **4:30 AM**

The sound of a phone buzzed during the morning hours. Mike "Thatcher" Baker groaned and rubbed his eyes before reaching over to look at who could possibly be calling him this early in the morning. His old eyes scanned the screen which read out "Six" before answering the phone.

"What do you need lass? Do you have any idea on how early it is?" He groggily said.

"Mike, you know how we had recruited those two from Morocco approximately a month and a half ago? Well we've got one more that should arrive within the next hour or two." Six replied.

A long sigh came from Mike, "Why couldn't I get a heads up before now so I could have been prepared?"

"I wasn't expecting him either so don't get mad at me. It was a last minute notice that I had been appointed last night. Get ready and stop by my office to pick up his files. After that, do me a favor and go get Sébastien and Masaru. They're the two I know he should get along with then I want you to pick another out that you think he'd fit in with after going over his files."

"All roight, I'll come pick up the files in maybe 15 to 20 minutes. I'm not as young as I use to be."

A small chuckle came from six before replied "The wisdom you have comes from the action you've seen and how long you've been around. It's no wonder you're one of the leaders of Rainbow. Anyways, I'll see you in a bit."

A small click came from the device as Mike set the phone down and got out of bed. Having taken a shower the night before after training, he splashed cold water on his face and put on some deodorant and some actual clothes instead of just his sweats and t-shirt. After a few quick stretches, he left his room and went upstairs to where Six's office noticing the files on a chair outside. "Not even you're use to waking up this early. Hell, you probably went back to bloody bed after setting these out for me." He mumbled.

Mike scanned through the files as he walked to Sébastien's room, intrigued by this new recruit that happens to arrive today. He was a decent size, 6 foot and weighed in at around 180 pounds. He didn't actually come from a military, police force, or militia like everybody else in Rainbow had. Not much was known about his life when he was younger and nobody knew his true name, any rumors spoken about his used the name Ghost when referencing him because there had been multiple occasions across North, Central, and South America where he had beat the professionally trained forces to targets where he got and left the information they needed as well as a calling card to prove he was the one to kill the person. He had actually been doing his profession for around 11 years having started at what they assumed was the age of 19 and he had only been caught because he had gotten into a high security White Mask base in Oregon and was found by the FBI and CIA interrogating one of the leaders we had heard had been killed recently before Ghost was sentenced to prison for mass murder despite it being against terrorists. It had been Six who had heard about him and his capture who bailed him out to work for a legitimate group so he could also have a pair of shoulders to rely on rather than work on his own.

Mike stopped in front of Sébastien's door and knocked, loud enough to wake his Canadian comrade up, but quiet enough to not wake the rest of the hall up resulting in a muffled "Come in" to be heard from the other side of the door. Mike turned the knob of the door and opened it to see a tired Sébastien rubbing his eyes before asking "Is not even dawn yet, why are you waking me up?"

"Me, you, Masa, and one more of my choosing are going to go wait for the arrival of a new last minute recruit. Six apparently let him in last night and he arrives in around an hour and a half. So just get dressed and go get Masaru while I decide who'll be the last person to meet up with Ghost."

"Okay, I guess me and Masaru can meet you down at the entrance in maybe half an hour or so." Sébastien said waving his advisor off.

"See you there mate."

* * *

Sébastien and Masaru walked outside to where Mike and a extremely tired looking Ryad were leaning against a fence, Mike with a cup of joe and Ryad some tea to get himself to fall asleep sometime in the next few hours.

"So anything we should know about this dude?" The Canadian asked, taking the files as Mike handed them over.

"He's an assassin, didn't work with any sort of program. Just him and the same targets other groups had been going against except he got the job done no matter how brutal and forceful he had to be without any help. His process was a little slow one day so he was captured and arrested down in Oregon where a supposed White Mask base had been. CIA and FBI got their hands on the poor bastard."

"So he can do his job alone and without remorse or regret? That sounds nothing like somebody Six would recruit to a special agents group where teamwork was a basic necessity." Masaru butted in, "He's gotta be extremely good at his duty to have gotten her attention without any recommendations."

Ryad took a sip from his tea, his eyelids drooping due to his insomnia, "What does he bring to the table? That last two brought some type of airburst and the other these claw things that act like Dom's batteries."

"Some hacking device." Mike responded as he watched the nearby hill where the USSV normally drives over anytime a new recruit gets dropped off. "He could go into his phone and detonate any remote explosive within a 35 meter radius. Was pretty badass but extremely destructive and a risk for unnecessary casualties in civilians and hostile alike. Save your questions for later, he's here." He continued, pointing towards the nearby hill.

A single black USSV Rhino could be seen approaching the base at a decent rate. The four operators split up, two on each side waiting and watching the vehicle as it slowed to a stop in front of them. The door swung open and a younger guy stepped out. He was around 6'0 in height, had dark hair than went up and curled slightly in the front. It looked like he had decent muscles but probably was more fit than strong. He had a black duffel bag with him which carried his weapons. After he shut the door behind him, the Rhino drove off leaving the five there in awkward silence.

"Welcome to Rainbow mate, you must be extremely good at your job alone to have been bailed outta prison by Six. Name's Mike Baker, codename Thatcher. The three with me are Sébastien Côté, codename Buck, Ryad Ramírez, codename Jackal, and Masaru Enatsu, codename Echo. Follow us, we'll show you around Mr….?"

"Ghost."

"Lad, could I know your real name? Makes working with you a whole lot easier." Mike sighed as the only response he got was a head shake. "Anyways, follow us."

"The basement contains our base's armoury as well as our own personal gym as well as lockers, showers, and our own ring for sparring matches. First floor has our infirmary, kitchen, and Jordan "Thermite" Trace and I's office. We're basically the ones in charge of the other operators right under Six. For the kitchen, operators take turns cooking so don't worry about it if ya can't cook properly. Others are fine with cooking more than others. Gustave "Doc" Kateb and Lera "Finka" Melnikova are the two who work here most of the time."

The group made their way upstairs but didn't venture far into it. "This floor is just has the briefing room and a recreation room for most of the operators hang out. The remaining two floors have all the operators room, lucky for you we recently constructed one more story which only has one room in use, yours. Six's office is also up here on the second operator dorm room, just bhead straight from the stairs. You're training doesn't start today but rather tomorrow so if I were you lad, I'd go to the next town over and enjoy your tile there for the day before anybody learns that you're here besides us so that you don't feel pressured when it comes to your basic training tests tomorrow morning. The gym, courses, and shooting range are all outside for when the time comes."

Ghost slowly nodded as he took it all in, a place to stay was fairly new for him as he normally had to stay in shady areas with people who could have potentially wanted him dead. Having a team that he could rely on partially annoyed him however. He felt that it weakened his nature of being a lone wolf having to rely on only himself so that he didn't have to worry for others.

"Here, take this." He heard Mike call out, he turned to see a key to be tossed his way, assumably for the room and Sébastien taking his bag with his guns to the armoury as he had no other pairs of clothing. Taking a deep breath, ghost walked into and room and locked the door before laying on his bed, not caring that he was still fully dressed as he slowly faded into a world of sleep.

* * *

 **Hereford** **Base, England**

 **1/9/19**

 **5:30 PM**

Ghost stayed in room, silently working away on his computer trying to work a new program for his phone so he had access to more than just explosive. He wanted it to control enemy drones and any remote weaponry they had as well. He jumped at the sound of a knock coming from his door. Confused, he slowly went up to the down and slowly unlocked and opened it revealing Masaru. "Here are the car keys so you can get to town within 15 or so minutes. Just make sure to arrive back at base before 10 as your training tests start at 6:00 AM sharp tomorrow rookie. Your choice to stay and keep working on whatever that is or to go out and enjoy yourself for a few hours before you'll be stuck at base for a while.

Ghost nodded and shut his computer after detaching his phone from the wire leaving it. He grabbed all his belongings he'd need on a day to day basis before leaving the room and locked the door. Taking a deep sigh, the man walked down the stairs and through the halls with his head down trying to avoid any and all attention from other operators which seemed to have failed as he heard a few different voices try to get his attention. Once outside, he jogged to a nearby black sedan that had unlocked with a press of the button on the keyfob. "Guess I get one more walk of seldom before I'm forced to succumb to this new life I've been given."

The drive wasn't too bad. The streets in the English fields seemed to be brand new as well as the base with a few small buildings and what looked to be a warehouse with it. The town that was nearby was nothing special. It had some houses, a couple shops, a few restaurants, and a bar. Naturally, he went to the bar as it was the only place somebody could hang out at alone and not be questioned, judged, or looked down upon at. Ghost parked on the street just outside the British pub before walking in and sitting down at the bar, his phone in his hand as he scanned what progress he had made with his recent modifications. The bartender stopped in front of him while wiping a cup with a red rag. "Anything I could get for ya mate?"

"Coors Light please if you have any." Ghost mumbled, fumbling around through all the codes his phone had found access in to. Nothing interesting had popped up except for a few older generation phones that didn't have too complex of security systems. The bartender had his drink ready in the matter of only a couple of seconds. Ghost took a couple of sips every once and awhile. He wasn't at all interested in what he could do on his phone so he just watched the tv's behind the bartender while listening to the different conversations happening behind him in the different booths. He noticed one group of what looked to be drunken men in their late thirties pointing at him trying to whisper in their drunken states. Ghost rolled his eyes before chugging the rest of his drink and putting a couple bucks on the counter before walking out of the building. The sky had gone from a bright blue to a dark star covered night as he had been in the pub for a easily a couple of hours.

"Aye, you there, the dirty skinny jeans and hoodie!" A drunken voice slurred from behind. Ghost turned to see the same group of 6 men standing there hardly able to stand still as they were stumbling in place. Ghost ignored them and started to walk to his car as he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and a huge weight on his back. He jerked around and slammed himself against the car, shattering the window as well as causing his Attacker to shift the blade further into his shoulder blade before letting go. The other men had surrounded him, one with a revolver that looked to or had only one shot in it while the others had brass knuckles prepared.

"You thought we wouldn't recognize you from that crashed yacht didn't you you rat." The one with the gun stated as he took the cigarette from his mouth and dropped it before crushing it with his foot. "Boys, get him. We'll use the bullet after we find out just who he is and who he's working for." The man walked away leaving him with the remaining four since the one that had originally jumped me seemed to have been knocked out cold with shards of glass poking into his scalp.

The first two men charged, both throwing punches his was, managing to block one by kicking the man's leg out from under him while the other managed to land a jab into Ghost's stomach causing him to start coughing. He noticed that the other two from the group had slipped away which he was fine with. Less people he had to fight all while he was slowly bleeding out with a knife stuck in his right shoulder blade preventing him from using that side of his body from the waist up. With a single swift move and immense pain pulsating, he managed to kick the down man in his kneecap causing a snap to be heard as his leg bent backwards and his fist from his bad arm slammed into the other man's temple knocking him unconscious.

Ghost took a couple of deep breaths as he tried to relax from the sudden ambush. He looked around worryingly just moment before a huge force of pressure consumed the back of his skull before the world faded to black.

* * *

 **Unknown, England**

 **1/10/19**

 **2:30 AM**

"Wakey wakey you baby bitch." Ghost heard as the burlap sacked was taken off from over his head. "It's just our luck that the White Masks found you here rather than back in the States. You already know that our men overseas are far more aggressive than they are here." A man said from behind him. Ghost was surrounded by multiple different forms of torture. There were a few different knives, what looked to be a loaded gun, a lead pipe, some jerry cans with towels nearby, and a pair of pliers. "Tell us. Who are you, what do you know, and who you work for." The White Mask said as he walked into view.

"I don't work for anybody. I do my work solo. To be honest with you, I do what I do because of the thrill of the kill. It's always fun to kill men like you after what you've done to friends and family of not just me, but others as well."

"Oh is that so? I'm not convinced." The man casually replied as he leaned my chair back and set a rag over his face. "Dimitri, go grab one of the knives. 5 cuts on each leg please while I do this." The can of water echoed off the walls as he shook it. The White Mask began the poor the water onto Ghost face, recreating the feeling of drowning. Ghost felt himself trying to scream as the water began to fill his lungs and suffocate him.

"Tell is the the fuck you truly are! We know you're part of a team, everywhere you went, the FBI and CIA followed!" The man screamed at the coughing operator.

"They arrested me for… manslaughter… I was never apart of … them…" Ghost replied as he gasped for air.

"I still don't believe you, I want the truth." He replied, grabbing the pipe. "If water boarding and deep cuts won't make you talk, maybe this will." He held out Ghost's arm and rolled the pant leg up until his calf was bare.

"Take this you fucking pig!" The man yelled as he slammed the pipe into Ghost's leg until it was left black and blue.

"Tell me what I want to hear damn you!" The man screamed at the top of his lungs as he grabbed the nearby gun, pointing it directly between Ghost's eyes.

In between the pain and shivers that covered the his body, he somehow built up the strength to say "I've told you everything. Might as well kill me since I'm of no use now."

The White Mask growled pulled the hammer into place ready to end the operator's miserable life just as alarms started blaring and a few other White Masks entered the room to get him out safely. He gave his hostage one final look for dropping the revolver and walking out with his comrades.

Ghost sat there alone in the dark room, the smell of blood and death strong. He was barely hanging onto life as his blood dropped from his shoulder and the 10 different cuts on his legs. His vision had already gone from a lack of blood but he could tell there was a massive firefight going on from the onslaught of bullet and explosive that rang through his ears.

* * *

 **Unknown, England**

 **1/10/19**

 **3:00 AM**

The group arrived on site of a small house with a barn and what looked to be a cellar on the side. "Looks like Six was right. This should be the place that that recruit said he followed the drunken attackers to."

"Zhere isn't much electrical units being used around here. I'm not seeing anything."

"I don't know. I.Q, go check the barn. There's too many footprints here that go in all sorts of direction for us to know where this lad is being kept. The rest of us will go in the building."

"Yes sir. I'll meet up vith you guys when I'm done. I'll let you know if it's clear via our radio."

Thatcher nodded at his comrade as the German made her way to the barn leaving the four to creep up to the front entrance. The door was unlocked so he slightly nudged it, gunfire erupting after the first creak. "I can deal with it." Buck said, pulling both his grenades off of his vest, fingers in the pins. He kicked the door open and sent the 'nades in separate directions to cover as much area as possible with the blast.

Screams of fear and terror echoed through the building followed by the sounds of two separate explosions. Thatcher peaked in and saw nobody left standing so he motioned for the rest of his men to follow him inside. "Alright, Thermite and I will take the first story. Buck and Jackal, go upstairs. Don't be afraid to tear walls down or to use your footprint scanner to find any White Masks you see. They're all foes and they have a fellow Rainbow Operator of ours in captivity so we shall show no mercy."

His three allies nodded, Buck and Jackal stalking away to find a staircase leaving the two second in commands. "So old man, it's time we get coming hm?"

"Yeh yeah. This room leads one way and that's the way the other two went so I'd say it's safe. Let's go." The Brit responded, letting his guard come back up.

Him and his Texan friend walked into the room, revealing a staircase and two different pathways. To the left, it was a closed door, to the right was a dark hallway that they could barely see through. Gunfire began to ring throughout the building from above them as Jackal and Buck had came across their first batch of White Masks. Thermite took a flashbang off of his vest as he turned the flashlight attached to his shoulder on. The light showed a long hallway with three doors, two lead to rooms to the right and a third straight ahead.

"Room one, then we blow a big fucking hole into the next room before entering final room." Thermite whispered before shooting the lock and kicking the door down before taking cover as bullets flew by. The moment bullets started hitting the wall that they had been using for cover, nearly penetrating it, Thermite tossed a flashbang in. As soon as the bang bursted, the two ran into the room and put down the two Masks that had been blinded by it. Thermite took one of his Thermite Charges and placed it on the wall connecting the two rooms before taking cover behind a flipped table with Thatcher next to him. A small click came from the detonator as sparks began to fly from the charge, eventually blowing up sending shrapnel all through the room. Thermite peaked over, doming a single terrorist who was stupid enough the look for them without having his gun ready. Thermite hopped over the table, slowly moving forward looking for any remaining Masks. Two shots echoed through the room as they dug into the American's bulletproof vest. Before anymore shots could be sent out, Thatcher riddled the man with bullets.

"Last room."

Thatcher backtracked before heading to the last door and kicked it off its hinges. The room was silent. He felt around along the walls for a light switch, illuminating the soulless room.

"Oi, Therm. Rooms empty let's head to the other room we didn't check."

"No need for that, I checked it." A particular German woman said as she approached the two men, "Nothing vas there except this. She handed Thermite something that Thatcher didn't quite see but he ignored it for the time being.

"Come on he has to be here. Just keep looking guys!" Thatcher yelled to the rest of his group.

Buck, Thermite, Jackal, and IQ had all met up on the first floor after clearing and checking the entirety of the house. "Look Thatch, I just don't think that whoever this new recruit is is here. He may of just abandoned Rainbow after using it to get himself out of prison. The only thing we found that could be of some usefulness was some phone that looks like a heavily modified iPhone X."

"For fock's said Thermite. He's gotta be here if his phone gadget thing is here. Have any of you checked the cellar that we passed outside?" The entire group shook their heads before running out to the cellar leaving Thatcher with his face in his hand.

* * *

 **Unknown, England**

 **1/10/19**

 **3:10 AM**

The world had gone silent as peace and tranquillity took over despite the pulsating pain throughout Ghost's body. The creek of the door ruined the serenity that he had long awaited for in the last few hours. "Sweet Jesus fuck man." An American, presumably from the south due to his accent. Ghost's eyes shot open in fear, 5 people in front of him. Three of them were operators he had already met while the other two, a man who he assumed was the Texan, and a girl who's had a few strands of blonde hair coming from under her balaclava. The man in the googles took a knife from his thigh and began to cut The ropes that held Ghost captive to the metal folding chair.

"My pocket, please." He cried out, having trouble moving his arms due to them going numb from a lack of movement. Thatcher patted down his thighs before reaching into the pocket. He pulled out a small hypodermic needle, it's needle covered by some sort of plastic. On the plastic portion of the syringe, it read out C17H19NO3.

"Morphine, why do you have this on you?"

"Don't worry. Just please… use it and… get me out of… here. He said in between weak breaths." Thatcher complied and stabbed it into his thigh before injecting all of it and carefully taking the needles out before throwing it into a corner.

"You're gonna probably end up passing out mate but your in safe hands now. Jackal, pick him up and carry him back to the the LZ." Thatcher commanded, "Thermite tell Six that the objective has been secured and to send an evac."

"Gotcha."

Jackal picked Ghost up and kept his limp body in his arms rather than over his shoulder due to the multiple cuts along his legs, the black eye and bruises on his face, and the knife that's been in his shoulder for what he could assume a few hours. "Don't worry kid, you'll be home soon. Doc will take care of you." Jackal said as he saw Ghost point towards a revolver that was left on the table. He instinctively grabbed the pistol and put it in the man's open hand.

The group made their way towards where they had entered from to encounter a single white mask holding some type of light machine gun. "Leave him here or you all perish. I know none of you can draw a weapon fast enough to kill me before I kill a few of you."

The group nervously looked at each other before slowly putting their hands up. Jackal slowly began to put the nearly passed out Ghost down as a single shot drilled its way into the skull of the man blocking their way. Everybody turned to see Ghost shakily holding up with revolver before dropping it and passing out from the morphine.

* * *

 **Alright boys, that concludes the end to chapter one of my new story. This story in general is one brand new experience to me so I apologize in advanced if it isn't exactly the best thing.**

 **I just want to thank you all for reading and to have a great day friends!**


	2. Against The Odds

**Chapter** **Two, here we go. Didn't actually expect more than ten people to check the story but looks like I was wrong. Anyways, I've literally started writing this chapter a day after I posted tbe first chapter because I'm hella excited to write this story which is surprising since Final Stand was my only story I enjoyed to the point of wanting to pump out chapters constantly for it while my other three stories I just ended up writing whenever I had any freetime or the will to actually write.**

 **I have no idea how long I'm going to make this story or how long it will last for but I guess that every three or so months, new operators shall be introduced to the story as I going to try and keep it relevant. If lucky, the story will last an entire year but we'll find out next December if it does lt not.**

 **I'm adding this portion in a bit late but I wanted to thank you Niko for the criticism. I haven't written in ages so I am a bit rusty. I'll do my best to space things out more. Still adjusting after coming back with something I'm not use to. :)**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter as I've been working on it for a while. Ciao!**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/10/19**

 **10:00 AM**

Gustave "Doc" Kateb carried on his normal routine of checking in new orders of medication, gear for surgery, and paperwork in the infirmary. He had a new kid in who had actually shown up the day before but had been told he had that day to spend in town before training. Unluckily for him though, a hidden group of White Masks had recognized him from his previous missions as he never actually tried to hide what he looked like according to Six when she has briefed Gustave on who he was and all that. Him and Lera actually had to do surgery on both his black and blue leg, his tibia fractured and his femur snapped in a couple different areas as well as safely removing the blade from his shoulder. He had around 15 stitches, place the two pieces of the bones in position as well as doing what they could for his tibia.

His pen scribbled along the paper as Ghost gasped due to the pain surging through his body as his painkillers and anesthesia had worn off. "Hold still mon amie, I'll go get morphine for you." Gustave said as he stood up and got a syringe filled with the liquid from a pocket filled with them. He flicked the vile to pop any air bubbles before taking off the plastic covering and put the needle into Ghost's other leg where the cuts had already scabbed over. "Ça va aller, everything is okay. You'll be out of here in three or so days. If Six knew that there were White Masks so close to base, she would have sent us to clear them out before anybody would have recognized you."

Ghost just stayed silent as he stared at the doorway, an Asian girl who wore round glasses, a beanie, and had a white streak in her hair leaning against the frame with what looked to be a tablet and his phone in her hands. "I'm here to give him this back. Thermite left it in his office and I noticed it and took it when meeting with him for something." She said, walking over to the beaten up man.

"Guess I'll be seeing you around, hm mystery boy?" The girl smiled setting his personal device onto the small table next to him before turning and walking out after a small wave to Doc.

Ghost sighed and closed his eyes. "Three long days of just lying here in bed. Fun."

"It's not all that bad, just look at it as an opportunity to relax for two weeks until the stitches are able to come out. Two weeks after that, your femur should be healed and you'll only need a brace for your tibia for another four to five weeks after that. You'll be starting some of your exercises and training as soon as the stitches are out." A British voice said from the doorway as Mike walked in. "How you feeling mate?"

Ghost shook his head and whispered "Been better…"

Mike sat in one of the chairs that were next to Ghost's bed. "Course you have, guess we didn't do enough research in the past three years of being together as a group around our own base or that was a new area for the Masks."

"Can I please go to my room rather than stay here?" Ghost said, ignoring whatever Mike had said.

"Sorry bud but you can't. Gustave and Lera need keep an eye on how well you're healing before you're let go. Best we can do though is get you into a wheelchair and go to the meeting room where you'll see everybody. They're all dying to meet yeh. Might as well do it now as the meeting is in 20 or so minutes. Never hurts to be early."

"I'll help you out Mike," Gus said as he carefully grabbed Ghost by the legs while Mike lifted him up from his back and waist. They sat him in a nearby wheelchair as gently as they could before Mike unlocked the wheels and started pushing him to the meeting room, Gus close behind.

"Why do I have to do this?" Ghost asked, his face in his hands.

"Every new operator that has showed up has done this. Traditional and it helps your new crew to get to know you and what you're capable of."

Ghost sighed as they wheeled him up next to the podium and set a microphone down on his lap. He laid back with his eyes closed as the room slowly began to fill with all the operators, most of them shocked to see the current state of the newest recruit.

Once the room had been filled with the other operators, Mike silenced the crowd before putting his arm on Ghost's good shoulder. "Good luck kid, no need to be scared."

Ghost scanned the crowd, seeing a couple of familiar faces with loads of totally unknown ones. He sighed in defeat as he picked up the mic, "Hello… I'm not willing to say my name as Six doesn't even know it, but I've been known as Ghost in recent years given to me by the FBI and the White Masks up until both the FBI and CIA arrested me after that mishap I bet you all heard of in Oregon."

A man raised his hand, he had a sturdy build and a long beard. Ghost acknowledged him so he stood up and said "Craig "Blackbeard" Jensen, are you the one who has been going all around the Americas taking out some of the small to medium sized White Masks bases with a few hits on larger complexes?"

Ghost nodded in response, trying to stay silent which caused the man to cheer. "Hell yeah brother! Pushing their shit in even back home!"

A few of the other operators from North and South America cheered knowing they had a trustworthy operator that could get shit done.

He saw another hand go up, this time from a familiar face. Grace stood up and asked "So what's your gadget? Unlike those from the west, I haven't kept up with your past which I apologize for."

"I can hack into any remote controlled devices like explosives, turrets, and drones from a hack I used programmed from my phone."

The girl nodded, "Interesting. Once you get out of the infirmary, we've gotta work together."

Ghost shrugged and looked for anybody else with questions. When the room stayed silent, he looked to Mike to dismiss the group and unlocked his wheels to leave the area. Thankfully it was a ramp rather than stands on to the podium and also had a separate exit than where the crowds were so that he could get some peace and quiet.

He couldn't exactly make it back to the infirmary on his own since it was on the floor under him so he slowly but surely made his way to the recreation room. The area was a decent size, it had a mini fridge in the corner, a couch and a couple of recliners facing a 60 inch television, plus some older arcade games, pool, and some tables set up for all sorts of different card games. Ghost stopped and stood up putting all of his weight onto his good leg and hobbled around to sit on the couch after pushing his wheelchair to an empty corner.

"Monsieur Ghost, you can't stay here you know," Gustave stated as he entered the room, " I have to keep an eye on you in the infirmary just in case I'm needed for an emergency related to your wounds."

Ghost looked at the Frenchman whose face was plastered with concern. "I'll be fine. I've survived much worse. You must have noticed the scars covering the back of my entire body."

"That may be so but those are all healed now so I don't have to worry about them."

"Until you learn what they are that is, Doc."

Doc took a seat next to Ghost, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "I have no information on your health as you're off the grid. Nobody knows who you truly are, just what you've done and where you've been the last 11 years. So I'd love to hear how you got those scars of yours and any health problems you have, physically or mentally."

"None to my knowledge, but different marks covering me all have their history. I'm sure you can easily make out all the different scars by just looking at them." Ghost turning his back to Gustave and lifting his shirt.

Gustave's eyes went wide as he saw the intensity of the scars covering him. Several different burn makes made up most of the damage done to the visible leg and lower back. Higher up, he had severe whip markings all throughout the middle of his back and arms, with multiple scars covering areas he had presumably been stabbed covering his entire upper back and portions of his neck.

"Where did you get these from?" Gus asked, lowering Ghost's shirt for him.

Ghost chuckled as he turned, looking Gustave straight in the eyes. "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to friend. I've been doing this for 11 years, I was never perfect at what I did so I would get hurt and captured sometimes."

Gustave took a deep breath and asked "What do you want then? You seem to be able to manage on your own. "

"All that I request is for me to not be stuck in that infirmary, just give me some crutches and somebody who isn't loud or talkative for that matter to keep their eye on me."

"I can do that!" A cheery voice said from behind them. The two men turned to see Grace walking to the back of couch. "After all, it's nice to have another hacker here."

"I said somebody who isn't talkative."

"She normally isn't. Odd of her to be now." Gustave told him.

She giggled and replied, "I have somebody who can relate to me in quite a few ways now so I have my reasons to wanna speak. Anyways, I'll be back in a few minutes to go grab you your crutches."

The girl left the room leaving the two men there in silence. "She's a good girl you know."

One of Ghost's eyebrows rose, "Oh how so?"

"She joined out of spite for her commander at the time. He hates that she was successful under her own rules rather than his so she's been working as hard as possible to stay here to keep proving him wrong and she's doing a hell of a good job at it."

"Good for her."

"You're not much of a people's person are you?"

"How could you tell?" His voice filled with sarcasm.

Gus shook his head, "Just get the girl a chance. Trust me."

"Whatever you say."

Doc sighed before standing up and waving to his new comrade before leaving to head back to the infirmary.

The room started to slowly fill once the conversations back at the briefing room had slowed. He pretended to sleep while people talked, occasionally mentions of his name but everything else was just regular talk. Nothing interesting.

"I'm back." Grace whispered as she approached with the pair of crutches in her hands. She laid them down behind the couch and sat next to the sleeping form of Ghost.

"You'll love it here, don't you worry."

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/10/19**

 **6:30 PM**

Ghost slowly made his way to mess hall which was already roaring with people, everybody sitting in groups with either their own units or their close friends from other units. He looked around to see Grace sitting at a table alone doing something on her tablet. Sighing, the man put both crutches on the side with his bad leg and hobbled to grab a tray of food before slowly making his way to the lone table with Grace.

She looked up with an annoyed expression that quickly changed to a smile when she saw who it was. "좋은 아침 sleepyhead Ghost, did you sleep well?"

"If being drowned in painkillers and to be able to stand the stitches and leg, plus a couple of sleeping pills to pass out is a good sleep, then yeah. One of the best I've had." He said, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of them.

"It'll get better as time goes on."

"That's what I'm hoping for with me being in Rainbow as a whole. Hasn't been the best of experiences but being down for a month and a half to two months in noting. I was down for the count on life support for all 2012. As Doc learned recently, I got lucky. Coulda been paralyzed from about my ribs down."

I saw Grace open her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a Brazilian woman sitting next down at their table. "Ghost, long time no see minha amigo"

Ghost's eyebrow rose, "Pardon?"

"Ah c'mon. Bolivia? The Santa Blanca Cartel? I know you didn't exactly help with the drug cartel but you were everywhere that the White Masks were." The girl said, twiddling a knife in her hands.

"Fuck me. Taina, you never told me you were part of Rainbow. I'm guessing that girl looking for you Emma is here too?"

"Yessir," She said, pointing at the only female at the table with all of the GIGN members.

"Glad to see you guys are okay. You were a big help with the White Masks there even though you were focused on the cartel and Emma on finding you."

"Ah, 'twas nothing. I've done harder." Taina said, smiling as she jabbed the blade into the table.

A small vibration shot through Taina'a leg. She pulled the phone from her pocket and looked at Ghost before leaving to answer the phone. "I'll see you around."

"Sorry, I had to get rid of her." Grace said, a small guilty smile on her face.

"What do you mean by that?"

The girl flipped her tablet to show him her screen, on it were the phone numbers of every operators, their IP addresses, and a few other things he couldn't read in Korean. "You have their numbers…?"

"More than that." Grace smiled, switching seats to sit next to Ghost, "I have full access and most of them don't even know it. I don't use it to look at personal stuff, just to have a bit of fun every once and awhile."

Grace looked around to see who was on their phone in the Mess Hall. She eventually laid her eyes on Craig. She pulled up his phone, seeing exactly what he was doing. The Seal was scrolling through what looked like a British craigslist trying to find himself a personal car since he's spending most of his time in England.

"Watch this." She said, a devious smile on her face. She waited until she saw some old rust bucket and took advantage of it. She quickly opened a new tab and called the owner of it quickly.

Ghost looked over to see Craig start freaking out, spamming to try to hang up the call but it wouldn't let him since Grace had full control. As soon as the man picked up, she swapped controls with Craig again allowing him to speak. The man instantly hung up and looked Grace dead in the eyes.

"You gotta be fuckin with me Doki."

She just gave him an innocent smile in return, "Had to show the newbie what I could do."

"Fine, just don't do it on me."

"No promises." She said, disconnecting from Craig's screen and swapping over to camera footage. "I'm also able to hack into any cameras around, every camera that's on base I have access to. All I need to get access to them are just phones or computers with access to them."

"I can do the same, but only have access to cameras on site. I assume you have access to all the hidden cameras as well?"

"Yup, I can send our team the full picture using any camera at my disposal."

Ghost took his phone out his pocket and went into some app which required a long password, after accessing it he looked through the different machines he could controller before finally settling on one called the "Evil Eye." He looked around with it and saw a few targets that looked like they were unused so he pressed a couple of digital buttons, opening the one way glasses and shooting a few lasers at them leaving burn marks where they hit.

"It's not much but it's something." Ghost said with a small smile as he scratched his head. "I could do much more but then I'd be required a tablet like you rather than just my phone."

Grace laughed, "You probably won't need a tablet with this since it's a newer phone. Just need a few upgrades. I just prefer it because it's easier for me."

"Yeah yeah whatever. I'm good with programming and shit like that, not building and putting the stuff together." He smiled.

"See, I told you guys would start to get along." A voice said from behind the two of them. They both turned to see a smiling Gustave.

"Just talking gadgets Doc." Ghost said, giving the doctor a weak smile.

Grace gave Gustave a warm smile, "Yup, getting to know each other better. That's it since he's been able to do most thing independently. I've only had to change his bandages once for the shoulder and good leg."

"That's good or hear, besides. The stitches in your shoulder shouldn't be there too long as I've said. It's your leg that's the main concern. Speaking of that, you're going to have to help him every morning with clothes and showering."

Both Grace and Ghost's faces went bright red as they blushed. "Not that way, just doing stuff before and after he gets in. He'll need help getting partially dressed as well as covering up his cast before he gets in."

Gustave changed his attention from Grace to Ghost, "And you just need to let her rather than doing everything independently. We're trying to get you healed as fast possible to get you back into the field."

"Yes, we know Doc. It's only 6 weeks of this, then he'll finally be able to do his thing."

Doc nodded before giving a two fingered salute and turning to head back to his table.

"You know, this shit is gonna suck. At least when I was on life support, that all passed by quickly because I was out cold so I didn't have to go through all of the injuries completely since they had all healed for the most part."

"I mean hey, you have six entire weeks of being crippled allowing you to lay low for a while. Not having to get out would be nice even if you're limited to what you can do." Grace said, trying to make light of the situation.

"I hope you know that I've already have plans to get me out of this cast sooner than later."

A smirk covered the girl's face as she rested it on her propped up arm, "Oh is that so? Explains to me then."

Ghost shook his head, "Nope."

"Aw, come on. Please tell little ol' me." She said with a fake pout.

Ghost shook his head and continued to eat his food in silence with a small but noticeable smile on his face.

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/10/19**

 **11:00 PM**

Ghost limped down the stairs as slowly and quietly as possible having to bring one of his crutches with him due to pain shooting up his leg anytime he put any weight on to the limb. The night was dead silent at this time, every move he took's sound would echo and bounce between the corridor walls. For Ghost, the trip to the infirmary he was taking was long and tedious, yet necessary for him to get at least begin to dip his toes back into the crazy and blood pumping rush of combat. In all honesty, he didn't know if it was worth doing this or if it was legal. The chance of potentially getting fired and forced back into the fed's custody sort of scared him but he was also determined to get better health wise to begin working on other parts of his party like his strength and mental capacity. At this point after nearly a month without fighting, he was dying for a fight. Whether it was something small like a match in a boxing ring, a spar, or even a life or death situation, he longed for the rush that fighting gave him. His thirst for blood and violence helped him pursue getting back into what he does best.

Though it took him a good fifteen minutes to actually go all the way from his room downstairs to the infirmary, he was one step closer to his goal and walked into the infirmary's welcoming opened doors.

Knowing that Doc never actually locked the door to the infirmary so that Lera could get it anytime she needed her medicine, he hobbled right in and used his phone's flashlight to go through the different medications that the infirmary contained. He was looking for a specifical bottle that had no markings on it except for the letters "P.T.H" as he had heard of rumors back in 2009 that it could help heal bones faster. Ghost eventually found what was a jar filled with some type of liquid rather than a pill bottle and looked around for a syringe with interchangeable needles so that he could throw the used one out and put a new one on after cleaning it. Once he had everything ready, he turned his flashlight to his leg to look for a vein.

"So whatcha doing there Ghost." A Russian voice came from the still opened doorway.

Ghost looked up to see the other Lera waking to him after turning the lights on to the infirmary.

"No response?" She asked, sitting next Ghost with a syringe of her own before injecting it into her arm. "Just tell me what you're about to inject into yourself first because I know we do have cyanide in here just in case Taina needs it for her interrogations."

"P.T.H, heard it could heal bones faster nearly a decade ago. Decided that now is a good time to test that out as it's the first time I've broken something in ages. I've got nothing to lose so I decided fuck it."

Lera nodded and replied "Fair enough, I've had to use it a couple times myself. Just do both me and Gustave a favor. Let us do it because we have to keep track of all our contents and one day he'll notice the used needle you've thrown away and the lack of the drug you're using."

"I doubt he'd even let me do this. Seems like the sort of guy who would prefer for this type of stuff to heal naturally rather than just speed the process." Ghost replied.

"You're probably right," She said, scratching her head, "Fuck it. Meet me here everyday at this time since I come here for my own personal drug that I have to take every couple of hours."

Ghost gave the needle a quick flick to get rid of any air bubble before jabbing the needle into the vein he found. He slowly forced the liquid into his system, his leg slowly numbing as the drug began to do its bidding.

"Hope you know how that stuff works, you're not gonna be feeling your leg for the right of the night." The Russian said putting an arm on Ghost's good shoulder. "Also, while you were out we monitored your body. You have some rare ability that allows your body to react and respond quicker than the normal body. That's why your leg should be fine in six weeks rather than the twelve to thirteen weeks as well as I think those stitches of yours should be able to come out tomorrow night."

Ghost looked Lera dead in the eyes, "Good. That is exactly what I want to hear because I need to get back out into the field as soon a humanly possible."

Lera took the syringe from her American comrade, "I'll dispose of this. You get to bed now since I know that it may take a while to do so since you need to use the crutch you brought plus now you can't feel your own leg."

Ghost nodded and grabbed his single crutch, relying on it heavily to help him stay on balance as he'd probably collapse if he even tried to use his broken leg.

Each and every stair he went up became progressively harder and harder to climb as drowsiness rode through his body. He finally reached the final floor and stopped next to his room. Ghost let out a single long sigh and sat down, his back against the wall. He propped the crutch against the wall and closed his eyes to escape to his dreams until the day had turned.

* * *

"You know, I think that you should listen to and appreciate them my boy. You've been alone so long and barely contact the ones who do know you, it must be painful to keep yourself self secluded. Where did my loving extrovert of a song go?" A voice asked from behind Ghost.

Ghost's eyes focused on the sunset just over the ocean as his legs dangled off the edge of the cliff. "He's still with you, this body or soul isn't your son anymore, that chunk of what was your son died the from the same fate as you and his mother. Me? I'm locked between worlds. Imprisoned on the planet until I accomplish my final task then I'm free from this place. Free from worry. Free from murdering and killing. Free from seeking the vengeance that I look for on the daily. The one, your son? He'd never do what I've done in my life span. I was born a monster, and I shall be laid to rest a monster. There's no way for you or your wife to change that."

"L-"

"Silence. My name won't help you get into my head old man. It'll just bring out the devil in me. I've handled it before and I'm betting that you wouldn't like to deal with it. After all, I'm sooo much easier to work with than he is. Nobody likes working with a devil."

"Listen to me. As your father, I demand that you do one thing. Give them a chance, even if it's the smallest one possible. It doesn't have to to be everybody, just one is fine. You need somebody in your life to watch your back."

"I'll think about it. Just leave me alone, you know that you cause me pain anytime that you decide to get into my head while I sleep."

* * *

 **I am amazed at my self that I wrote all of that in the amount of time that I did. My main goal to be completely honest with you all was to finish this before 2019 which I have completed, at least for my time. I hope that everybody reading this the day I posted it that are in 2019 are having a good year so far. All my friends still in 2018, I hope you all have a great year next year! See you all next chapter, whenever I manage to pump that chapter out.**


	3. Natural Timing

**Yay chapter 3 is here. Happy 2019 everybody as I just started writing this chapter af 4:25 AM on New Years Day. To much of my surprise, the story has gotten a decent amount of views. 180 if I remember properly as of when I started to write this chapter. I leave for the airport to fly back to Washington, also known as the shittiest state in the country in about 3 and a half to maybe 4 hours. Yet here I am watching Youtube while writing this instead of getting some sleep rather than none.**

 **I'm fine with it though as I've been enjoying writing this story. Trying to surpass the first field chapters and get them over with so that I can move on to the more entertaining portion of the story that I'll be able to get more creative with what I can do what I want like a laid back chapter, action, romance, ect. It's great, just think of all of the potential in store.**

 **I've gone back to the first two chapters and fixed any errors I came across as well as adding in portions that I completely forgot about like the gym for example being one of them.**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all whenever the hell I finish this. I'm aiming for 500-1000 words a day, more if I get lucky. Ciao!**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/11/19**

 **7:15 AM**

Grace wiped her eyes as she walked up the stairs, her tablet in her hands as she used it to let Ghost know she was on her way to him. "Madame Grace," an obvious French accent said from behind her, "I'm assuming you're also on your way to check on Ghost?"

"Of course Gus, you told me to help him out with things every morning." The girl said as she laid her eyes on the Ghost who has been laying against his door.

Grace ran to his body, grabbing his wrist almost immediately to look for a pulse while Doc rushed to call Lera. In all of the commotion, Ghost's eyes fluttered open revealing two worried comrades. "What's going on? Why are you two freaking out?"

"What do you mean why are we freaking out? We came up here to check on you and you're propped up against your door, passed out." Grace said, squeezing his wrists.

"Why were you even sleeping out here? I remember seeing you walk into your room and close the door last night." Gustave added.

Ghost chuckled, "Couldn't sleep so I roamed around a little bit. Got too tired to open my door so I chose to just pass out right here. Didn't think that would be an issue."

Grace took a deep breath, "Come on, we have to get you ready," She said, picking Ghost up before wrapping one of his arms around her shoulder.

Ghost reached into his pocket, taking the single key out and unlocked the door and pushed it open. Grace took the single crutch and tossed it into his room before walking him to his bathroom. "Start your shower, I'll get your clothes for you."

"I don't have anything else. What I'm wearing is what I own and brought with me."

Grace stared at him with zero emotion as she handed him a bag to cover his cast with. "I'll be back after you shower." Ghost rose an eyebrow but decided not to question it as she left to go down to the mess hall

She grabbed one of the bells that's used to announce when the food was ready and rang it to get the entirety of the room's attention. "Girls, you can go back to eating. All of the men that potentially wear the same size clothes as Ghost, is it possible for you to donate clothes you don't wear anymore? Ghost has none besides what he currently is wearing."

"How tall is he?" A voice shouted from somewhere.

"Six foot, I'm not sure of he jean size but his shirts are probably larges and his shoes are around anywhere from US sizes ten to thirteen. Once you're done eating, just drop the clothes off to me, I'll be in my room." Grace replied, turning to leave.

"Grace, go in my room, it's unlocked. Everything on the right side in my closet is stuff I don't wear anymore." Craig called out from the table he was at.

The Korean girl smiled and thanked the Seal as she left the room to head to the floors with the bedrooms. It didn't take long for Grace to find Craig's room and opened the door revealing the marine's room. While just was curious about some of the things in it, she clouded those thoughts and instantly went to his closet. She found three pairs of t-shirts, 2 pairs of black jeans, a single pair on black shorts, and a few pairs of boxers. The clothes had already been nicely folded so she took the clothing back to Ghost's room. She heard the sound of the shower still going so she walked in sat the clothing on his bed, grabbing a some black boxers, the black basketball shorts, and plain black t-shirt.

The girl knocked on the bathroom's door, calling out for Ghost. "Hey, I got you clothes! Where do you want me to put them?"

The sound of the running water went quiet as she waited for a response. She heard the glass door of the shower open and what she assumed what him grabbing his towel from the rack. Grace waited a few minutes before another hello escaped from her with no response in return. She turned to set the clothes back in the bed with the rest before the slot in front of her opened revealing a wet Ghost with only a towel covering his body. Her mouth gaped as she stared at his scar covered body. His body type wasn't anywhere near as muscular as Craig and Seamus' bodies were, he was more toned and fit like Erik and Eliza were.

"Uhhmmm…" Grace said, her face turning into a bright red as she held the clothing she picked for him out.

Ghost just shrugged and took the clothes from from the girl before slowly closing the door to change into his new clothes. Grace didn't know what to do so she walked over to the clothing and started to hang up the shirts and put his pants and boxers away into his dresser. She looked around the room as she finished, it was completely empty of personal belongings besides his phone charger and laptop. All that Ghost brought with him were his weapons, his phone, and what he wore. Most of the other operators including her normally brought clothing, personal items from home like instruments, games, electronics, pictures, etc but he had nothing. Not a single picture was in his room to show of his family or who he was. She didn't believe Gustave at first when he had said that Ghost lived off the grid, but now she was starting to believe it as he had nothing but his own mind and body to remind him of what had happened previously in his life. A single tear swelled up in the girl's eye, thoughts of how her new colleague probably never had a chance to be who he actually was, leaving him as as a lone and empty shell with nothing left within it of what it once was.

"My room isn't that interesting." A voice from behind her said. Grace turned to see Ghost standing in place thanks to the single crutch he was kept with him, his original clothes in his hands and his hair still slightly damp from just getting out of the shower.

"S-sorry," She stammered, "It's just I never looked around much before. I didn't expect you to have brought nothing with you."

Ghost looked into Grace's eyes seeing nothing but a worried and confused young girl behind them. He shook his head, "Didn't have anything to bring with me, I see no big deal with it. Why, what does your room have in it?"

"Stuff from home, pictures of my family, you know, things everybody has."

She swallowed the lump in her throat when she saw Ghost's eyes dilate at the mention of family. He mumbled something she couldn't understand and left the room knowing she had the spare key to get in an out of it. Grace stared at her her feet, thinking about what Ghost had gone through in his life. "I have to find a way to improve his life…" She told herself, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Grace walked down the stairs to head back to the mess hall to get some food of her own when she peeked into the infirmary to see Lera cutting out Ghost's stitches despite Gustave saying he needed to have them for at least a week. She knew he had a plan to get him up and into fighting condition at a rapid we pace but she was surprised by just how fast it was and was questioning whether or not whatever he doing was safe for his body as it wasn't natural. She wanted to go and see what the two were up to but decided not to.

The girl walked into the still lively mess hall. A small smile crossed her face as she saw there were two muffins left, one with chocolate chips and the other with blueberries. She went saw that Chul was sitting with Craig and Meghan so she went to the same empty she has sat at yesterday. The girl slowly ate her muffins waiting for Ghost to enter the room and sit with her but he never came.

"Bonjour Grace!" Emma exclaimed, sitting next to the girl and putting an arm around her neck. "How are you and Ghost doing?"

"What do you mean how am I and Ghost doing?"

"You're trying to date him, no?"

A small blush crept onto Grace's cheeks, "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just helping him since he's injured."

"Fair enough, I guess I'm allowed to slide right in then to date him since he already knows who I am." The French woman said, teasing Grace.

Grace shook her head, trying to avoid eye contact with Emma. "Good luck with that. For all you know, he may already have a girlfriend that none of us know about. Besides, you're older than him."

"I like my men younger, beside I know that I could easily snatch him because I've worked with the man. Taina and Meghan as well could also potentially have him all to themselves."

"You're my friend and all Emma but what are you trying to do?"

The French woman didn't reply and instead patted Grace on the back before leaving Mess Hall to carry on with the rest of her day. Grace carried on eating as she waited for Ghost to join her.

The clock kept on ticking as the crowd slowly left to go do other things leaving only Grace an hour later with no sign of Ghost. A small sigh released from her as she put her arms on the table to hide her face in.

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/11/19**

 **2:00 PM**

Grace still hadn't left the Mess Hall despite multiple people coming in to try and talk to her, all of which she had either turned down or pushed over as she didn't want to by bothered. Craig knew that she'd sit there and do nothing unless she had her tablet so he managed to lock pick her door open to pick it up for her.

She had mainly been watching YouTube videos or looking at social media but had gotten bored and went through the different camera feeds the base had to offer. A couple operators were on their phones so the girl was able to watch their expressions change based on what they were looking at. It was fun and all until she stopped at a camera from a laptop which gave her a look at somebody in the gym, more specifically Ghost. Black Wedding by In This Moment played from the computer as she saw Ghost set his crutch down near the pull-up bar before hopping a little to be able to reach the bar and dangle. He sighed before letting go with one arm before completing a pull up, repeating with his opposite arm afterwards.

He dropped into his good leg and grabbed a chalk ball, playing with it for a minute or so before tossing aside and hopping onto the bar again. His pull-ups started slowly. She began to count as he exercised, every 20 he'd speed up up until around 125 where he started severely sweating and slowed down immensely yet still managed to crank out another 25. Once again, he dropped and slowly made his way to the dumbbells and picked up two 40 pounders.

"Need help?" A voice from off the screen called.

"I'm fine Emma," He replied as he looked up to see the woman.

When she walked into the laptop's view, even Grace stared in amazement. Emma wore blue running short that didn't even make it halfway down her thighs, a sports bra in the same shade of blue, a pair of white running shoes, along with her hair in a messy bun.

"Uhm… Is this what you always wear to work out or is it a special occasion today?" Ghost asked, looking away to avoid checking the frenchy out.

"Bit of both," She replied as she walked past the boy, "Is there something wrong with it?"

"Of course not, it's just last time you dressed like that, you were hitting on me and I rejected you since we wouldn't have been able to of seen each other constantly after that what had happened in Bolivia."

Emma smiled, "And now that we get to see each other everyday and that won't happen again, has your mind changed?"

"As much as I want to say yes and date you Emma, I'm sorry but I can't. It'd distract me from work."

The French woman pouted and put on her best sad face. "You aren't working right now."

Ghost chuckled, "Because I can't work. So I'm doing the next best thing and preparing for when I can go back to work. Trust me Emma, said I said. I would love to date you. You're an absolutely gorgeous woman and I've gotten to know you slightly during that short span of time when we had first met. Besides, you've been flirting with that one kid, Rook because I don't remember his actual name."

"Julien… After me and you had to split ways, I started talking to him." The rosy cheeked woman responded.

"You've already put your time and effort into him. Why not stick to him rather than going to me? Besides, I think it'll make Ms. Grace over there happy." He replied, pointing directly at the laptop.

Grace's face flushed with embarrassment as she immediately closed out of her program and turned off the tablet. She hugged the tablet closely and made her way out of Mess Hall for the first time to go look for either Jordan or Eliza knowing they had major crushes on each other but neither had even admitted it.

Eliza had been nowhere to be seen but she found Jordan in the recreation room watching tv with Craig, Meghan, and James. She sighed and walked to to the group of boys and tapped on Jordan's shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey Jordan, can you come with me please?" The girl asked, a tad bit of plead easily recognizable in her voice.

"Anytime kid," Jordan replied standing. "When I get back, tell me what I missed.

The two left the room and stood just outside of the entrance.

"What's on your mind kid?" Jordan asked as he leaned on the wall.

"Are you going to ask Eliza to date you or not?"

"Is this what that's about?"

"Yes and no, I just need to know how you asked her out or how you plan to ask her out. Everybody here knows how close the two of you lovebirds are and we're all literally waiting for you."

"Nah man, I haven't asked her out. Just waiting for the time to come naturally before I ask her out."

"Why wait though? Why not just be together now so you two can be happy together?"

Jordan chuckled and put a his hand on Grace's shoulder. "Because when time naturally pushes us together, it'll strengthen our bond a point further past what me and Eliza are capable of forming together."

Grace stared at her feet thinking over what Jordan had talked about before embracing him in a tight hug startling him. "Thank you so much Jordan."

Jordan hesitates at first but shrugged it off to return the hug. "No problem kid."

~" _Thermite_ , _Thatcher_ , _Buck_ , _Bandit_ , _Dokkaebi_ , _and_ _Ghost_ _please_ _come_ _to_ _my_ _office_." _The_ _PA_ _system_ _rang_ _out._

The two of them split apart due to the PA system, Jordan waved goodbye to head to Six's office leaving a wide eye Grace left. She shook it off and started caught up to Jordan with a single question stuck in the back of her head. "Why is Ghost going? His body needs to heal!"

The two walked up to Six's office where they met up with three of the other four operators, the only one missing being Ghost.

"Don't worry you five, Ghost is on his way and will be here soon enough for briefing." Six said as she pulled out all the different files for our group.

As soon as she dropped the final file, the crippled form of Ghost entered the room. "Sorry I'm late Ma'am, the stairs aren't exactly my best friends at the moment."

"You're fine Ghost, you actually managed to get here at the perfect time as I just finished getting everything out. Everybody go over the stack of files with your names on them, it'll go over your job as well as a layout over the operation and what you should be expecting when you show up.

Grace and the others scanned over the blueprints of the building they were going to go going into. It was a biker clubhouse located in Hannover, Germany, being used for drug trafficking, specifically cocaine which was all managed by the White Masks. The building itself had only two stories, as well as a basement. The first floor was just a bar and a strip club as well as the club's garage while upstairs was where all the dirty business went on with the drugs and cash near the owner's bedroom and gym. The basement however was one of the big worries as it functioned as a full fledge armoury for the White Masks during after hours.

"Now everybody, I know you all are wondering why Ghost is here despite being in bad condition. Even in his current state, he's an extremely valuable asset as he'll be able to help Dokkaebi scout the place out as well as control any potential turrets and explosive on site. Most importantly though, he's going to be defusing a bomb rumored to be on sight filled with the same gas that was found during the Bartlett attack. This will force Ghost to have to be doing his job from behind the frontlines, guiding the mission through up until the area is cleared and those biohazard containers are defused for good. Now I advise for all of you to go get your gear. And Dokkaebi. Grab Ghost his Browning and put a silencer on it. Meet at the airstrip by 3:00 PM as your ride has arrived and is refueling and being deiced."

Everybody saluted and left the room to go get their weaponry except for Ghost, who went to the airstrip to be the first person on the chopper.

The group made their way to the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, Eliza tagging along with Jordan until it was time to depart to Germany. "Promise me you'll come back in one piece, okay Jordy?" Eliza said bringing the Texan into a tight hug.

"Wouldn't make the promise in the first place if I couldn't keep it." Jordan ensured.

Eliza broke away from his grip and took a few steps back, "Good, if you don't keep your promise, I'm going to smack you."

Jordan chuckled at the girl's threats, "If you're willing to hurt an either injured or dead man, then go right ahead. I won't be able to stop you but I sure as hell know Gustave would happily do it for me."

"I'll just have Lera distract him for me, she does owe me a favor after what happened in Operation Chimera."

The man rose an eyebrow as he hadn't heard of Eliza doing anything worthy enough of a favor during that operation except for taking Gustave's idea of getting Doctor Macintosh rather than nuking the area. "What did you do to get that favor?"

"Took some of your ammo and gave it to her while you were prepping that specialized thermite charge of yours."

"You rat, I nearly ran out of bullets that mission."

Eliza laughed, "Should have cleared the grunts our with us rather the rushing to breach the door. Not my fault she was helping protect your ass."

"I'll get you back eventually, just gotta figure out what I'm doing to get you back with."

"Whatever you say!"

~"I hope you love birds are done speaking, we're all fueled up and ready to go!" The pilot called out from the opened rear of the chopper.

Jordan rolled his eyes at the pilot and turned his attention back to the girl in front of him. "I guess I'll be seeing you again probably tomorrow or tonight, hm beautiful?"

"Guess so." She replied seductively, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Just kiss already! Ve're leaving!" Dom called out to the two.

Eliza sighed and let the Texan go. The Israeli woman turned and walked away, purposely swaying her hips to give him as much eye candy as possible.

"C'mon playboy," Sébastien added, "This is going to be quick and clean, no mess ups."

"You and you're damn attempts at keeping it PG, just say fuck for once…" Jordan mumbled as he boarded the Chinook with the rest of the team.

Everybody took their seats and started doing whatever it took to distract them for the next hour with Jordan and Dom cleaning their weapons and going through all their gear, Sébastien playing Tetris on his phone, and Grace and Ghost sitting side by side, his face plastered with confusion while hers was a blush covered mess.

"Aye Dom," Jordan said trying to get the German's attention, "Do you know anything about this clubhouse?"

"Ja of course. I've been here a couple of times both dealing drugs and undercover but zhat vas all before zhe Vhite Masks became a serious issue."

"Was you cover ever blown?"

"Of course not, vhy?"

"Just wondering since you've got yourself such a colorful background. I'll bet you 10 American dollars my friend that you, Ghost, and Erik will all three be the agents she sends undercover to get more details out of the white masks."

"Zhat's a stupid bet because I know ve probably vill, let's just hope Erik doesn't go MIA for two years and come back like it's nothing vith shit loads of information like he did for his old unit."

"He already knows that Six would probably send the military out to find him if we lost contact with him for over a month so I doubt he'd pull that stunt again." Sébastien said, adding his two cents to the conversation.

"You're most likely right and whenever they'd find him, he'd probably get yelled at and handed resignation papers. Me zhough, I'd always make sure to keep contact and if that's not possible, I'd make sure to get an extraction and hit what I had already damaged." The German added.

"Wot about little ol Ghost over there? He'd probably have a little magic up his sleeve to kill everybody and make it out with everything he was looking for." Mike added

"Yeah, what would you do Ghost?" Grace asked, poking at his ribs as he was slowly fading from reality into a daydream.

Ghost shook his head and stretched, "I don't know, kill everybody who wasn't important, interrogate the remaining person, then either kill them or knock them out and leave them for whoever is following my path."

"Aw c'mon, you did everything solo and you aren't sure what you'd do after your cover is blown?" Jordan replied.

"Yeah, you apparently kicked some major ass throughout the years" Dominic added.

Mike sighed as he looked at the two operators, "Give the man a break. He's injured plus he was in custody of the feds for a while."

Ghost shook his head, earning him a sigh from both the Texan, German, and Brit. "Sorry I did my job by killing, getting information, then moving onto the next mission."

The group sat quietly for the remaining hour and a half, waiting for their operation to start. Sébastien and Grace both decided to nap trusting their teammates would wake them up when it was time to get out.

The chopper swooped onto the roof of the clubhouse where nobody could see on top of from anywhere in the area except for the area that the cop cars covered. The crew got out and turned all their coms on.

"Alroigt lads, chopper is leaving until we have the area secured. Since you're immobilized Ghost, stay here. The rest of us will go do our thing while you make the call outs and control whatever you find. Codenames only from here on out." Thatcher directed.

Ghost nodded and sat where he was as he patched into the cameras and machinery he could get his way into, the others confirming all gear was in proper shape before setting their grapples on the ledge to rapple to ground level.

"Our job is to just take everybody out, Bandit I will skin you if you take any of the drugs that they are laundering out here." Thatcher said, "We'll split into two teams. Me and Thermite will breach garage while you three breach through the windows."

"Ghost, how's the place looking?" Thermite asked.

"Garage is clear so find a quieter entry point rather than blowing a whole open. They're littering the rest of the place on full alert but I can take care of part of the basement, they've got plenty of gadgets and tech down there."

"Bravo team, you clear out the strip club and bar, head to the basement to finish off the White Masks down there. Me and Thatcher will clear the first floor of over here then all of the second floor." Thermite commanded, "Ghost just keep doing recon and damage everywhere you can."

A large explosion from somewhere inside the clubhouse went off, shattering all windows on the building. "Don't worry about the arsenal or anything/body in it. It's all destroyed because the dumbasses left active C4 in it hook up to both a detonator and some sorta of PC that's able to change how big the explosions are. When you enter the garage, ahead of you are stairs and a storage room. Clear that storage room out before heading up."

The two nodded and found a doorway into the building. They signaled to move up to another doorway that connected the garage to the rest of the building, the stairs and two storage rooms in sight.

"Thermite, get the one on our left, I'll get the one to our right then we'll head up." Thatcher commanded. Thatcher walked into the room on edge, letting his guard down when seeing that it was empty.

A single shot was fired nearby before a barrage of bullets followed it. "Fuck you ya cunt!" A familiar Texan's voice rang out.

Thatcher ran to the room his squad mate was sent to clear out. In front of him lied the dead body of a White Mask, multiple bullet holes covering him. Next to him was Thermite who's thigh was was leaking blood at a speedy but not deadly pace.

"Is everything alright down there?" Ghost asked through the comms.

"Thermite is hit but he's up and going still." Thatcher reported as he pulled bandages from his vest. He wrapped them around his teammates leg as tightly as possible before putting the roll back and standing.

"Don't worry about me old man, the adrenaline is starting to make its way through my body so I can carry on. Let's head upstairs, this area is clear."

The two made their way for the stairs, stopping just before the top waiting for intel from Ghost. "Room is clear, the next room however is filled with dirty money, what looks to be cocaine, and 5 White Masks. I suggest breaching following that up with flashing them out."

As Thermite was placing his Thermite charge, the sound of a firefight could be heard breaking out downstairs in the bar. "We're going to need back up guys! Buck shouted, hoping his voice could be heard over the sounds of the bullets through the comms.

"We'll be there soon, we're taking upstairs out then we'll flank from the stairs near the bathroom, just hold out for a little bit." Thermite said, pressing the little red button, "Big fucking hole coming right up!"

Meanwhile in the bar, Buck, Dokkaebi, and Bandit had flipped the pool table and were using it as cover from the 15 plus men shooting at them from the bar. "You guys stay here, I'll try to flank them." Buck whispered before diving to the nearby corridor. He creeped into the bathroom unnoticed with his C8-SFW at the ready. He peeked his head out the doorway just to duck back into cover as an onslaught of bullets came his way. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he grabbed a grenade from his belt, pulling the pin. His breath slowed as he waited a second before tossing the grenade behind the bar itself. An explosion went off causing screams of excruciating pain and the rapid fire of the bullets to slow his way.

He peeked again to see bullets coming from his side of the building, Dokkaebi's MK14's shots echoing off the walls as they buried themselves deep into the White Mask's skulls.

What looked to be Bandit's C4 flew into view and detonated, blowing a giant chunk into the brick wall in the back sending shrapnel into the backs of the terrorists it had passed during its journey. Three bulky figures could be seen walking through the smoke left from the explosion, stopping to stand there menacingly waiting for the smoke to clear out. The three's eyes went wide as the three bombers began charging to their locations.

"Ghost, is there anything you can do about these bombers?" Buck panicked as he unloaded an entire magazine into one of the two suicide bombers charging him.

"Already done, I'd suggest diving for cover. He said, giving Buck two seconds to get to safety before detonating the Bomber's explosives for them. Buck looked up in horror while his ears rang to see the walls covered in blood and guts with a hand, two legs, and a single mangled intestine left.

"I'm unable to do the third, there's a fault in how it's hooked up meaning you have a 50/50 chance of it actually blowing up. The final bomber was already out of his sights and the rest of the White Masks were focusing on his other two group members as well as the stairs meaning Thatcher and Thermite were ready to play and were doing what they could.

"Doki, Bandit, are you guys okay? Where's the remaining bomber?"

"We're blooding shooting him mate, The girl and Bandit are still pinned where they are so we're trying to distract him long enough." Thatcher said through the comms. Buck occasionally peeked out to pick off the lower tiered White Masks while they were reloading.

During the whole mess, Dokkaebi was coming up with a plan, prepared to take down the final bomber. "Thatcher, I need you to throw an EMP at the remaining bomber. It'll deactivate the explosives and make this entire situation a whole lot stressful. Thatcher obliged and chucked one of the sphere at the bomber, hitting him directly in the visor. He began to charged the British man but was forcefully tackled to the ground by Bandit who had a knife in his hand and what looked to be cocaine on his balaclava and vest. The two struggled with each other for a good 15 seconds before Buck got sick of the two and lined his skeleton key's barrel up with the terrorist's head. Much to the Canadian's surprise, the visor took three shells to shatter with a fourth shell to mangle the man's face and kill him.

"Bandit and Dokkaebi, you two go get the police who have surrounded the perimeter to clean this mess up and take everything of use to them. Take Thermite with you so they can check out his wound to make sure Doc can take care of it back at Hereford." Thatcher commanded. The other complied with his commands and went to go complete the task leaving just Ghost to go get. "Hey Ghost, I'm going to 'rapple up to you and bring ya lad so you can rejoin with the rest of the team."

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a ~ARGHH!" Ghost responded before it sounding like he got tackled.

"Ghost, are you there? Ghost speak to me!" No response came through. "Shit shit shit." Thatcher said as he rushed upstairs, breaking a window to get outside. He took the grapple off his belt and threw it onto the roof's irrigation pipes and climbed his way up to see a single White Mask with his arm around Ghost's neck and aimed at his head. Thatcher instantly pointed his gun at the two, his sights directly between the terrorist's eyes.

"Let me go or he fucking dies." The man hissed, his voice sizzling with venom.

"How about we duke it out. Fist fight, just me and you, ya bloke. You beat me, you're home free." Thatcher said, not letting his guard down.

"Your loss, not mine." He replied, pistol whipping Ghost knocking him out on the spot before throwing the gun off the roof behind him. Thatcher did the same and threw his weapons and armour off behind him, keeping his signature gas mask on just as the terrorist kept his mask on. Thatcher may of been old but he was in no way or shape unfit to fight.

He heard his grapple hook fidgeting behind him and said "I have this under control, don't come up here." Into his radio, hoping whoever it was listened. The noises stopped behind him so he went back to focus on the fight.

The White Mask charged the British operator throwing a right hook aimed for Thatcher's jaw. Thatcher managed to lean back far enough to avoid the hit and retaliated with a swift jab to the man's stomach. He took the hit like a champ and faked a kick to swing his left arm directly into Thatcher's right eyehole, cracking it but not shattering it. The British man smirked as the terrorist cracked his knuckles he charged the man but slowed after reaching the man. Thatcher gave the man a swift kick in the legs, knocking him over before Thatcher pinned him down and started pummeling everything above his shoulders. The White Mask took a blade from one of the only pockets in his gear and jabbed it into the British operator's gut earning him a howl filled with pain.

Thatcher took his own blade out of its pocket on his forearm and aimed to bring the knife down his opponent's eyehole, the White Mask fighting to keep himself alive as he struggled to keep the knife away from him. Sick of the struggle, Thatcher used all the strength in his body to force the blade into the man's eye, digging ever so deeper so ensure a kill. Seconds passed as if they were minutes, what seemed to be an endless struggle from his victim stopped as he felt one final wall of tissue slice open in his skull.

Satisfied, the operator hobbled over to his unconscious squad mate and sat down. "Ghost and I are safe on the room but he's been knocked out unconscious while I've currently got a blade in me side. Call in an evac and get us back to Hereford."

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/11/19**

 **6:00 PM**

The entire group was in the infirmary getting checked out by Gustave and Lera, the windows covered and the door closed so nobody could see or get in until the inspections were over. Grace, Dominic, and Sébastien were fine. Ghost had just woken up but was fine besides some slightly bruising from where the butt of the gun had hit him while Mike needed stitches for his wound and Jordan some new bandages as well as painkillers.

"You know that Eliza is going to kill you." Ghost said to Jordan.

He laughed in response, "Yeah I know. She's probably worried as hell thinking one of us is critically injured since three of the six of us were brought in on stretchers."

"It's not too bad lad," Mike said, taking a swig of whiskey he had Lera get him, "Just think of it as a couple days in your case of not having to worry about going on a mission. Only downside is me and you will have some more office work."

"You know Jordan," Sébastien began, "Maybe this could be your 'time coming naturally' for you to and little 'ol Eliza to get other, eh buddy?" He said nudging at the Texan while winking at Grace causing her to blush knowing that somebody had heard her and Jordan's conversations.

"You're all free to go. Inspections are over." Gustave said, opening the blinds and unlocking the door.

Eliza rushed into the rook before pulling Jordan into the tightest hug possible before releasing him to smack him hard on the cheek. "You promised me you wouldn't get hurt! I did notice that bullet hole in your pants when you were first brought in here on they stretcher."

Jordan laughed and brought her into another embrace, "You know it was only a 9mm, didn't even need stitches." He whispered into her ear.

Eliza returned his hug, snuggling her face in between his neck and shoulder. "Still doesn't change the fact that you promised me.",

"Then let me make that up for you." He said as he grabbed ahold of her hand and lead her out the room.

"It's about time zhose Vögel liebens, I'm sorry, love birds finally got together. Zheir flirting got annoying since zhey veren't even dating." Dominic said, reaching around in his pocket. He pulled out a little baggy with a white powdered substance.

"Doc, catch." He said, tossing it to Gustave.

The Frenchman looked at the baggy and sighed. "Do you always have to bring cocaine home anytime you go on a mission where it's a factor?"

"Nope but I do it anyways." Dom said, walking out of the room.

"I'm heading to the rec room, you two coming?" Mike asked, finishing off his whiskey.

Ghost shrugged and looked towards Grace. "Yeah we'll meet you there." She said as she went to go help Ghost.

"I'll see you too there then." Mike replied taking his leave as well leaving only Ghost, Grace, and their two caretakers.

Grace strolled up to Ghost and gave him his crutch, the the two maintaining eye contact causing Grace's face to fill with the reds of embarrassment and Ghost to question why she was acting this way. "Umm, Grace?"

The Korean girl snapped out of her womderinf state of mind. "Huh, what Ghost?"

"Nothing. Why? Thought we were just going to go hang either with Mike."

"Uhm yeah, Ghost side said while hiding her face. Okay, let's get going then." Grace followed Ghost while thinking about what she could do to have him think of her the same way she did to him and to choose her over the other females they worked with.

* * *

 **That took longer than expected but it's okay. It's the longest chapter to a story that I have ever written but I am currently aiming for it to be my average chapter size eventually.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed! Feel free to review as I'll always apreciate it. Criticism is welcone as it helps me fix what is broken as I'm writing it.**

 **The next chapter I write, I'n aiming for 10k words before toning it back down for a little bit but it may take longer because I actually have finals next Thursday and Friday. But I shall do my best to get it all done and executed.**

 **Last of all, thank you so much to 350+ views in only two chapters. Never expected this story to actually get that much attention but it helps with me wanting to write more chapters for this!**


	4. The Boy Who Once Lived

**Chapter 4, right on. If you guys read my author's notes at the beginning or end of each chapter but I basically it's not too important.**

 **I just want to say that I have started this chapter the morning after posting chapter 3 and that I am aiming for 10k words this chapter. It may take longer than the ten days I took on the last chapter, but not just due to it's length. I have semester finals for school on 1/17/19 and 1/18/19 but I'll be sure to write as much as I possibly can before those days and on those days. On a bad day, I get little to no work done but on a good day, I'll get 2000 words typed out and ready to go.**

 **I** **try** **my** **best** **to** **update** **the** **story** **constantly** **so** **if** **you** **see** **any** **errors** **that** **managed** **to** **get** **by** **me** , **just** **let** **me** **know** **where** **it** **is** **and** **I'll** **get** **to** **fixing it.** **Typing** **on** **mobile** **with** **autocorrect** **is** **so** **nice** **but** **it** **doesn't** **always** **work** **which** **blows** **but** **oh** **well. It's** **not** **too** **difficult** **to** **go** **back** **and** **fix** **things** **as** **well** **as** **adjust** **anything** **that** **needs** **it.**

 **Another thing is, I occadionally have to do research which makes the writing process a little it longer but its nothing too serious and it never takes long so don't worry about it too much I guess.**

 **Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy and to leave a review as they all personally help me out. Favorite and follow if you enjoy the story please as it encourages me to write more often. Ciao!**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/25/19**

 **3:30 PM**

Two weeks had passed since that last mission, Ghost had managed to survive being in his cast and finally recovered enough to walk on his own and move into a boot for a few more days despite his wishes of going without. In that time frame, Ghost had actually opened up more to the group and began starting conversations rather than being on the receiving end as well as becoming better friends with Grace, Jordan, Sébastien, and all the Russians though they were a different story.

Ghost was sitting in his room, the door cracked open to let a breeze in as he laid on his bed staring at the ceiling. Memories of his past jogged through his head from some of the happiest moments of when he was younger up to every important human he had ever killed. Today was a different day. The day where his life changed and forced him to become who he was now, a cold blooded killer who enjoyed the thrill of the kill anytime he takes a soul from another's body.

~ _ **Flashback** ~_

 **1/29/2006**

A younger Ghost and his parents were walking through the giant and busy mall, enjoying their time together as a family before he finished High School as he had just turned 18 and was planning on leaving the state for college almost immediately after graduating.

"You know son," his father began as they strolled through the busy building, "You still haven't told us about what college you're going to and what you're doing there. After all, you do have a talent in hacking like in those old '80s and '90s films we used to watch together."

"Yeah, I'm not sure of any place with classes like those, but there are definitely computer classes out there since the market for employees that can work those pieces of tech is willing to pay their employees extremely well." His mother added in, exaggerating the word extremely.

"I'm thinking about going to Colorado actually," Ghost began, "Lincoln Tech there has an extremely good engineering program and I'd like to continue that since we'd always have our project cars. Hacking sort of just became a hobby of mine, nothing career worthy."

"You never know, it may be the next big thing for our government so that they could stay one step ahead of all our enemies. Just think of that, my baby boy working in a higher position for Uncle Sam to protect his country." His mom said with a small giggle.

Ghost rolled his eyes at his mother's imagination, "I don't think I'm fit for a government job. Too high of expectations plus they'd always be on my back since I could probably climb the ranks easily with what I know. Rookies beating out then veterans as it normally is."

"Don't stay on your high horse for too long now," His dad butted in, "Working for the government would put you into tip-top shape, turning you into a real man."

"I'm tired, can we stop at the fountain and continue our conversation?" His mom asked.

Him and his father looked at each other before looking back to the woman and shrugging "Sure, we can rest for a bit honey. We have been walking for at least an hour or two now."

The three went to the only empty bench that surrounded then large two story fountain and continued their conversation. The topics changed frequently, all focusing mainly around the country and world problems that had been going on recently. Ghost had just pulled his wallet out to chuck whatever coins he had into the fountain to wish for good luck as alarms started to screech throughout the building as the sound of gunshots ricocheted off the giant building's walls causing everybody within it to have one of two reactions. The most common of the two was to panic, which most of everybody did trying to run and hide from why others looked around confused and dumbfounded. Ghost watched in terror as people dropped dead or injured in front of him. Not too far behind the people who had been put down were a group for 10 or so men, all wearing black shoes and pants with gray hoodies and white masks. Every member of the group had some time of gun whether it was just a handgun, ranging all the way up to what looked to be worn down M16s and AK-47s from back during the Vietnam War.

The group mowed down everybody within their sight, killing 20 or so people before their eyes landed on Ghost and his parents. 4 of the men snapped their guns up and pulled the triggers without hesitation. For Ghost, it was like he was watching the world unfold around him in slow motion as six different shots entered different parts of his mother's body, with 5 more digging into his father, two of them into his skull. Ghost watched in terror as their lifeless bodies dropped into the water, tainting the clear water red. His head flipped to the masked men before jetting in the opposite direction. The tallest man of the group ordered for two of his grunts to follow and shoot his direction. In front of him were three bodies that looked like the people chasing him with a fourth body being a security guard, his Glock 17 and a loaded mag lying on the door close to his hands. Ghost scooped the weapon up as he ran, bullets flying all around them before one ripped into his shoulder. Adrenaline pumped through the boy's body as survival was the only thing on his mind as he dove behind a metal trash can for cover. He peeked his head out to see the terrorist slow to a steady stride, their worn down guns pointed directly at. Swallowing the lump that was in his throat, he poked out and aimed the gun at one of the terrorists and pulled the trigger rapidly four times. Ghost watched as the man dropped and unleashed the rest of the ammunition the pistol had into the still standing man before tossing the pistol away and running for the nearest exit or window to get the hell out of the mall.

 **1/29/2017**

Time seemed fly by as a new scene formed around him, the familiar city of Cambridge, Massachusetts taking over as the new surrounding rather than the mall he was previous in. In front of him were students happily carrying on with their day. Ghost was standing near a window that looked over Bartlett University's parking lot. He saw four truck loads of people pulling into the parking lot. As he truck stopped, the first couple of people gunned down anybody nearby causing chaos to wash over the rest of the campus, as well as letting the people behind them to take the crates containing their biochemical weapons they had worked their asses off to create the bombs and Bartlett was supposedly the test location according to the last Mask he had interrogated not long ago.

Ghost had counted upwards of around 60 or so White Masks that had exited the trucks and pushed their ways into the University and tied up anybody in their way rather than kill them as that's what the gas had been created more. Ghost left his position and made his way to a closest, putting his gas mask on as he waited for the gases that leaked from it as well as the gas that released into the school's area as the gases from the bombs took over. He made sure to wear clothing that had been inspired by the White Masks so that he wouldn't get caught. This operation though wasn't to save everybody here at Bartlett. He wanted to find the second in command since he was going to be at this attack, interrogate him, and kill him. He wanted the FBI and CIA off his tail and this was the only way how was to not save these people when we could have.

Two hours had past, cops surrounded the area with their guns drawn, not attacking as if they were waiting for a seemingly bigger and stronger force to come in and clear the White Masks out. Ghost was roaming around asking like a Mask rather than hiding as the local cameras in and around the building didn't provide much information as the gas was too thick to see through and blending in was much better.

Ghost had checked every nook and cranny to find the second in command of the White Masks leaving a single room left which happened to be guarded by two bombers. "You guys are making it too easy for me." He muttered as he found the explosives connected to a separate signal rather than a detonator like the White Masks use to do.

The bombers looked at each other as the timers on their chests clicked down from five seconds. With one second the spare, they began freaking out as both of the men exploded, painting anything in the general vicinity a crimson shade of red. Two Masks flew out of the room, their guns drawn it to put them down as Ghost was the only person they saw besides what was left of their comrades. "What the fuck happened?" One asked, throwing his gun to the side.

"I don't fucking know, I saw their timer counting down and hit the deck. Next thing I know, they're fuckin in a million god damn pieces." Ghost replied, faking his anger.

"We'll stand guard then, go talk to the boss as well as be his personal guard rather than standing there loligagging." The other Mask said as he took post next to the decimated doorway.

Ghost nodded and walked past them to see a single Mask sitting behind a computer, he wore a black mask and a yellow hazmat suit rather than the more casual clothing the others wore.

"Sir." Ghost said, saluting to the high ranking man, noting that one of the biochemical bombs shared the room with the two of them.

The man ignored Ghost who in return, rolled his eyes as he aimed his weapons at the two men guarding the door. With two pulls of the trigger, they were both dead with the Lieutenant pinned to the floor with Ghost's pistol in his skull. His gunfire seemed to have caused a chain reaction as a full on firefight could be heard on the lower floors, probably trying to make its way to both of the bomb sites.

"Tell me Mr. Nguyen, what do you think you and your men are doing here in Masachusetts? It's a long way from Brazil, Bolivia, and Mexico where I've last encountered your bigger operations."

"I'm not required to tell you anything Ghost. I don't even know how your ass managed to sneak past everybody here."

Ghost smirked, "That's for me to know and you to never find out. But I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way."

Ghost stood the man up and pushed him back into his chair, tying him to it as well as stabbing a blade into each hands that dig into the table under it as well. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me? Your punishment is just beginning and you coming out alive depends on whoever is out there killing your men."

Mr. Nguyen shook his head causing Ghost to laugh. "Oh, we're going to have so much fun me and you."

Ghost took two shots at the lieutenant's knees, obliterating his patellas. Continuing with his punishment, Ghost took out his own personal knife and started cutting slits into the hazmat suit making sure to dig into the Mask's skin with every slit. When he was done, he plunged the knife into the Nguyen's stomach causing the Asian man to start coughing small amounts of blood into his gas masks. Ghost cracked his knuckles before punching the Mask just under where the knife was.

"If you don't tell me where any of your American based are, I'll fucking cut holes into your gas mask and kill you with your own weapon. I've seen what happens to those affected by the gas, it's fucking gruesome and I don't think you want that."

Ghost could see the fear in the White Mask's eyes as well as hear him physically gulp over the sound of the gunfire getting ever so closer. Ghost ripped his knife from the man's stomach and pointed it at the bleeding man's mask. "Speak."

"Okay okay fine! We have a few different bases. You only get one location though. It's a white suburban house in Los Angeles, California. 501 N Detroit Street, L.A California, 90036." Mr. Nguyen squealed.

Ghost smiled at the information he got as he dropped his calling card on the desk in front of Mr. Nguyen and walked to the entrance, leaving the White Mask tied up with the knives still through his hands for the people behind him to find. Ghost found his way to the stairs as he tried to leave the area but found himself some what looked to be swat members though they all had different patches ranging from all over the world.

With a sigh, Ghost ran up to them acting as scared as possible to seem like a civilian who had escaped. They all aimed their guns his way but didn't shoot as he exclaimed "Please help me! I killed one of them and put his outfit on so I could escape! I don't want to die!"

The group all looked at each other before the one who seemed like the leader spoke, his British accent easily recognizable. "Twitch, I'm going to need you to take him out of here to safety, me, Thermite, Montagne, and Sledge will carry on."

The woman walked him back to the police frontlines and commanded him to take off the White Mask gear so he did, causing her jaw to drop.

"Ghost, what are you doing here? What were you thinking?" The French woman asked, pulling him into a hug.

"Same old same old. Nice to see you're still busy, no longer having to chase down Caviera anymore." Ghost said, returning her hug.

Twitch laughed and backed off. "Look, I gotta go now but stay out of trouble and remember, my offer for you to join the group apart of still stands, all I have to do is talk to my director."

"I appreciate it chica but there's no need to. I'm not trained by the military or a PMC, just a man with a vengeance. Anyways, I'm off to the other side of the country for my next stop. I assume I may see you there but I wouldn't get your hopes up." Ghost said as he prepared to get back to the car he rented from the airport.

Twitch nodded and waved her farewell as she ran back to the college. A few cops had actually tried to stop him for question but he ignored them as he knew damn well he'd was off the grid and he'd be arrested for having no information in the system as he was thought he have died years before.

 ** _~Flashback Over~_**

A small tear formed on Ghost's face as he sat up, his mind swirling back to thoughts and memories of his parents and how great his life could have been doing whatever he pleased. Ghost opened his drawer that stood next to his bed and took out the single knife inside of it. It wasn't anything special, just a butterfly knife from his child. He cleaned it daily and sharpen it once a week, sometimes even twice a week. Without any hesitation, Ghost dug the blade into the skin on his wrist, slowly cutting it into a nonlethal manner. He continued until there ten different cuts, one for each regret he always had in life that he never followed through with. He jumped as somebody knocked at his door and quickly wiped the blood off the blade with a tissue and tossed the tissue into a bin next to the stand. Making sure to hide his bleeding arm behind his torso, he opened the door revealing Grace bouncing on the balls of her heels.

"Hey Ghost!" She exclaimed, bringing the introverted man into a tight hug before backing way when she felt liquids on his arm. She looked at her palm and forearm, they were covered in fresh blood.

Grace's eyes flared from excitement to a mix of curiosity and sadness. "What did you to to yourself?"

"Nothing to worry about kid. Anyways, what did you stop by for?"

"Jordan, Eliza, and Sébastien wanted to hang out for a while before dinner since it's nearly 4:00. But as I hope you know, we're cleaning your arm up and bandaging it up." The Korean woman said as she grabbed Ghost's wrist to drag him down to the infirmary where both Lera and Doc greeted them.

"Xорошего дня Grace and Ghost, how are you both doing today?"

Ghost opened his mouth to speak but Grace had beat him to it. "Hello guys, we just need bandages for Ghost. He had accidentally cut his arm while doing something."

Grace yanked his arm out from behind him and showed the two doctors the currently bleeding cuts.

"Monsieur Ghost, these look like self harm rather than random occurrence. I've had my fair share out in the fields, I know what true sounds look like." The Frenchman said, slightly disappointed in his comrade.

"Would you like to talk about it? Gustave and I have classes every Monday and Thursdays for the operators with PTSD, depression, and a few other things. I'd really recommend it as it seems to help the other operators in the family."

Ghost rolled his eyes at his comrade's attempts to try and help him. "Pshhh, I will think about it at most. I don't think I'm feelin it though Lera but I thank y'all for the offer. We're just here to get my arm bandaged up."

Lera nodded and grabbed some bandages and tossed them to Grace. "That'll be enough to cover the arm without anything extra."

Grace thanked the two as she continued to drag Ghost around and applied the bandages to his arm. "Anyways before I found you after your stupid stunt, I was going to tell you that Eliza, Jordan, and Sébastien wanted to hang out with us over in the recreation room."

"Fuck it, why not."

A small smile creeped onto Grace's face as she grabbed Ghost's wrist that hadn't needed the bandages and began leading him to the recreational room. "Let's go then, they're waiting for us and probably thinking we've ditched them to do something else."

"I don't know what they'd expect us to do two hours before dinner but I guess we'll let it slide for now." Ghost mumbled under his breath.

The two made their way to the recreational room and saw their three friends chilling by the TV, a rerun of 2018's 24 Hours of Daytona playing as 2019's race was coming up in the the following day. Jordan and Ghost had talked about it recently as they only cared for the GTE series instead of the Prototype series and Jordan had always rooted for the Porsche 911s while Ghost always cheered for the old SRT Vipers though he's switched to the new Ford GTs after Dodge had pulled their cars from the competition.

Ghost sat down in a recliner next to the sofa while Grace opted to join the other three on the couch since Eliza was sitting in Jordan's lap cuddling him. "So you two have finally gotten together?" Ghost asked as he watched the race.

Jordan chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Eliza. "Yeah, it only took you a week to find out, hm spook boy?"

"Maybe I'm just oblivious or I've gotten use to more people than just Eliza calling you Jordy," Ghost joked, "Regardless of that though, congratulations on you two getting together. I can't imagine either of y'all dating anybody else here."

"You have anybody that you've got your eye on?" Sébastien chirped in.

"Not really. Haven't gotten to know anybody to the point where I've gotten comfortable enough with them. Even if I did, you should be worried about you and Taina. I know how much of a handful she can be."

Sébastien's eyes widened as his face paled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your face says otherwise my northern friend. I've noticed that Taina talks to very few people, less than both Chul and I do, and you're one of the few special ones she hasn't explained to me yet." Ghost smirked.

The Canadian looked straight ahead in a realm of his own as he contemplated his next response. He gave up trying to find a way out of the situation and sighed. "Do us a favor and please keep it between the five of us. I know she wouldn't be pleased if the entire gang found out."

"Aye man, your secret is safe with us. Well, all of us except for Eliza since she can be a drama and gossip queen." Ghost replied, waving him off as he looked towards Eliza.

"Don't call me out." She rolled her eyes, "I promise not to tell anybody but I will do my research and watch how you two progress. Besides, I have one more potential couple I've been keeping my eye on."

"And who would that be babe?" Jordan asked, a devious look in his eyes.

"Well, I can definitely tell you the two should know who they are, just not that I'm making sure to push them together. But if you must know, it's Grace and G~~" She got out before her phone could be heard going ballistic on the coffee table.

The Israeli woman sighed as she reached over the phone and read the texts before clearing them so nobody could read them and turned to look at Grace. "Well I guess sharing who Grace has a crush on is off the list seeing as she sent me 30 messages just to shut up. Your secret is safe for me but if you to do get together, you owe me £50 because I'm calling it'll happen."

"Shut up." Grace replied, her cheeks burning up in embarrassment.

An awkward silence filled the room as the group payed attention to the TV, only Ghost and Jordan actually enjoying the racing while the females had already gotten bored of it and Sébastien beginning to doze off. After an hour or so everybody had fallen asleep except for Ghost and Jordan who were still intently watching the endurance race forcing the two to have to whisper to each other anytime they spoke. Maxim stalked into the room as silently as he possibly could to scare the operators but changed his mind when he saw three of the five of them passed out.

The Russian leaned over the couch just above Jordan's left shoulder. "Dinner is being made by both Zofia and Yumiko so it's bound to be a beautiful feast tonight comrades."

"I'd hope so because I'm starving." Jordan said, scooting out from under his girlfriend as quietly and softly as possible. "Been forever since we've had true food since nobody has been stepping up to the plate to make any actual food so we've had to eat MREs or microwave stuff."

"This place has had actual food?" Ghost questioned.

"Da, we use to occasionally even go off of base to go and get food but then the terrorist threat began to worsen and here we are now. It all happened before you joined."

"Man I've really missed out."

Jordan laughed, "You sure did kid. You sure did. Things were pretty good up until maybe two years ago. After that Bartlett University attack, things went into the shitter. Before that, we thought the White Masks only operated in Europe as the CIA and FBI refused to tell us of any operations out of our own continent. Now we're a global operation and it makes sense to hire people from other countries."

Ghost froze in place at the thoughts of the Bartlett Attack, his mind going over every single detail of what happened that day from when he flew in to when he flew back out to head to the other side of the country.

"Hey, everything alright comrade?" Maxim asked as he tried to shake Ghost back to reality.

"Huh what?" Ghost asked, blinking rapidly.

"You sorta just blanked out man. Did something happen back in 2017."

"Nothing in particular, don't worry about it."

"Whatever you say. Just know we're all here to talk about it, even if it involves getting Shuhrat and Alexsandr as well as some vodka to get it out of you." Maxim jokingly replied.

"Trust me, that won't be needed my friend, I guarantee you of that." Ghost said assuringly.

Maxim went to speak but was cut off as the PA system talked over him. "Hello every! This is Zofia and I just wanted to let you all know that your food is ready. Come on down to Mess Hall and enjoy your food!"

The three looked at each other before each deciding to wake up their fellow operators who had passed out in the room.

"Come on Grace, wake up. It's time for dinner." Ghost said as he lifted her into his arms.

"Five more minutes please…" She begged as she dug her head into his chest.

Ghost sighed in defeat, "You have until we get to the Mess Hall because I'm not in the mood to be teased about having to carry you there."

"Too late playboy." A feminine voice said from just out of his vision. A small flash covered their bodies before he looked towards Eliza who was giving a sleepy smirk with her phone in hand.

"Really Eliza?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it. But remember, it's always there for when you want it."

"I don't know what use it would be to me."

Eliza pocketed her phone, "Just saying, you'll never know if you'll want it or not. You know, for memories sake."

"I wouldn't worry if I were you my friend," A tired Sébastien added, "You two are cute together. Two little hacker peas in a pod."

Ghost ignored his friends' comments on him and Grace and lead the group's way down to the Mess Hall to go and eat whatever luxuries awaited them.

Before entering the chattering filled Mess Hall, Ghost set the girl down gently onto her feet while slowly shaking her. "Times up, we've arrived here so let's get some food."

Grace rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stared down the man in front of her with blurry eyes. "Ghost?"

"Yes, it's me. Can we please go get some grub? I'm starving and would rather eat than look after you currently."

Grace smiled as she cracked as many joints as she physically could on her own before walking into what looked to be a buffet. "Why did none of you say that we were going to be eating good tonight? I would have never even let myself pass out if I knew this is how we were gonna be dining like kings and queens."

"That's all in the past, just grab whatever food you want then we'll find somewhere to eat." Maxim said as he walked by the two.

Ghost shrugged and followed Maxim to where Zofia had been happily handing out food to the other operators. "Hello Ghost, I hope you enjoy the food since I know we haven't had anything even remotely decent to eat since you've arrived."

"I definitely will enjoy it, thank you Zofia." He replied with a nod. He waited for Grace to receive her food before joining his friends at the table closest to the entrance.

Ghost and Grace sat nearly shoulder to shoulder, mainly due to Grace wanting to stick close to him. The table was silent for the most part at first as everybody ate but Maxim spoke up to end the silence. "So Ghost, how long have you been in this sort of business? I haven't exactly read your files."

"I dunno, around 12 years almost when it gets to my birthday."

"Did somebody say that there was a birthday coming up soon?" A certain French female asked from behind Ghost. Jordan and Maxim scooted over slightly to make room for Emma. "Why haven't you told me before Ghost?"

"He's only been around for a little over two weeks Emma and you're all over the poor boy." Jordan pointed out.

Ghost shrugged, his eyes filled with a void of cold and darkness. "Back in Bolivia, we may have gone on a few dates. After that though, the meetings were brief and random, inconsistent jobs. You know, all that garbage so we never technically dated."

Everybody's jaws dropped, especially Grace and Eliza's. "Wait a moment, that means you knew what Rainbow was before joining didn't you?" Eliza asked.

"I knew of you guys' existence and what you did. Other than that, I had no idea what y'all were besides some sort of Spec Ops. Me and Emma didn't exactly share a lot of person stuff."

"Technically, he had first met only me, Taina, and Meghan at first. Grace already knew that since I told her a little bit ago. He met Jordan, Mike, Gilles, and Seamus though at the Bartlett attack back in 2017." Emma said, not noticing Ghost's death glare.

"Wait, I've met Ghost before?" Jordan asked, taking a bite of his burger.

"Duh, he was that 'civilian' that we extracted. Who else could have nearly killed the Mask's second in command and get out without a scratch. Besides, you saw his calling card there." Emma replied, emphasizing the word civilian for Jordan.

The Texan shook his head, "I should of fucking known the card meant something."

"If me and Ghost ever did actually get together, I would have met his parents by now anyways. We've known each other for upwards of three or four years now."

"If you guys could excuse me, I'll be right back." Ghost interrupted as he stood up from the table.

Everybody nodded except for Grace who had nothing but worry, terror, and fear going through her head. After Ghost had left the room, Grace decided to finally speak. "I think you fucked up mentioning his parents and how you could have met them Emma."

"How so? He probably just has to use the restroom."

"Emma, I've seen his room. He didn't bring any personal items. That includes pictures of him, friends, or family. He said everything he owns, he brought with him. I haven't even seen a car get dropped of here yet."

"So? He may just not be a family man. I can accept him for who he is."

Grace facepalmed, "I don't think you know what I meant by that. I mean what if he doesn't have a family? It could be a touchy subject. He didn't seem very happy about his birthday being near either."

Ghost was standing outside the door listening to the females' conversation before just shaking his head. He walked downstairs to the armory and grabbed the only pistol he had brought with him, a .40 Browning Hi-Power. He put it into his back pocket and grabbed himself one the the grapple hooks before heading back up stairs to leave the building. Once outside, he spun the rope a few times before he threw the grapple on to the roof and caught an unnecessary railing. Testing the strength of the railing, he gave the rope a couple of tugs and began climbing up the wall, struggling for grip as the boot couldn't exactly stick to the brick wall. Once up, he sat on the edge, his head dangling in the gentle breeze with phone playing Gravity by Papa Roach, his pistol next to it.

His mind raced, every bad memory he had going through his head. Song by song, he stayed up there contemplating his life. Tears started to drop from Ghost's face as his hand inched towards the phone, "It's my fault… If I chose to just stay home for dinner, I wouldn't be a fucking murderer today…" He thought as the tears poured from his face.

The music stopped as the phone began to buzz, Grace's little logo doing its animation on screen.

* * *

"C'mon Ghost, answer your phone," Grace growled in frustration, "You've been gone for nearly half an hour."

The phone kept ringing, stopping around the minute mark to address the fact that he had no voicemail box. Grace rolled her eyes as she called the phone and picked it up for him. "Ghost, where are you? You said be right back, not I'm going to go somewhere else."

"Leave me alone please Grace." He said, his voice frail and cracking.

"Is everything okay? Where are you at?" Grace asked as she left the table, her voice fill with worry.

"I'm in not telling you where I'm at, everything will be okay." The sound of a pistol being cocked easily distinguishable in the background."

Grace muted the call for a second, "Hey guys, I'll be right back. Something is insanely wrong and I don't know what." She got up and left while scrolling through the every single device on the premises until she found Ghost's phone. His firewall was complex but only took the Hacker a couple of seconds to get through. A visual of Ghost with a gun in his hand and bits and pieces of a rooftop as well as the dimming sunlight. Grace sprinted out the door and ran to each side of the building looking for a rope.

A small line dangled from the side of the building prompting the Korean to instinctively ran to the rope and began her ascent to the top where she was greeted by Ghost's back facing her and a pistol in his hand pointed at his own temple.

"Ghost…" She whispered as she got closer, "Please put the gun down, we can talk about this and let everything you've ever held in."

His body tensed up as he pressed the gun's barrel further into his head. "Don't come any closer please."

Grace sighed and sat down, her back against his. "You don't have to tell me a lot, but I want you to trust me and let me know some things so I can at least help you."

She heard the gun drop onto the concrete rooftop and Ghost lean his weight onto her body, his head resting on the back of hers. "The White Masks killed my parents. That's how this entire mess fucking started. All because I decided I wanted to go out for my fucking birthday rather than stay home like I had done every year before."

"You aren't supposed to lose everything you loved and cared for the day you become an adult, they're supposed to be with you every step along the way until they have nothing left to teach you. It made me the cold blooded killer that I'm known as, calm as a stone about killing. I don't even think about how I'm testing families apart at this point, my sense of humanity is fucking gone." His voice cracked from the tears but Grace could hear all the pent up anger, how it was the first time this man had finally succumbed to what he kept inside.

"Luca Pirelli is no longer who he longed to be. He died that day with his parents and is now six feet under. January 29th, 1988 was when that part of me was born. That version of me lived within but had been forcefully taken the day of the shooting in 2007. I went to my parents and old self's funeral, the only picture they had of me was what was online at the time and my ID and Driver License pictures. I've been dead for almost thirteen years and nobody knows it because nobody knows who I am…" Ghost continued, occasionally sniffling while recollecting his past.

"You've never changed. The real you has just been in slumber Luc~ I mean Ghost, you've put on a giant metal shell that surrounds and hides the person you once were. All it'll take is time and for you to open up to others. If you don't want to open up to me, then please just go to Gustave and have him help you."

"Luca please… And you can try to open me up. I don't know how much progress you'll get into it. But do me a favor. Please tell nobody about this, I don't want to be forced to mentally heal and be held away from missions."

"Trust me Luca, this will stay between us but if it gets worse, we're letting Gus know about your condition whether you like it or not."

"Under one condition Grace."

"And what is that?"

Ghost inched to the side a little bit and stood up, reaching for Grace's arm to help her up. "You're coming with me to go see Six, I have a request as well as something to tell her."

Grace accepted his help but refused to let go of his hand as they slowly walked to the rope to get down. "Just saying," she began, "You're going first so I know that you're not gonna try to jump off and kill yourself that way."

A sad laugh came from Luca as he reached down to grab the rope. "Guess I'll see you down there kid." Grace waved as he slowly slid down, her following after he was off the rope.

Grace grabbed ahold of his hand again while the two walked to Six's office. She noticed a couple of confused stares from other operators the saw them from inside the Mess Hall but ignored them as that wasn't important at the moment. The two stopped in front of their Director's door, and looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment as Luca knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Luca pushed the door open and let the girl's hand go as he sat in one of the chairs that were in front of Six's desk. "Ma'am," He began, putting his hand out for a hand shake, "I guess you've met the wrong side of me before but my name is Luca Pirelli. I can make a new file or add on to the file you have of me if needed but I also would like to make a request for when I'm healed."

Six's eyes widened as she accepted his handshake, "Umm, yes Mr. Pirelli. What is it that you propose?"

"Is there a way we could have a parkour or freerunning trainer area? I use to do a bunch of that for fun as well as it was useful while I infiltrated White Mask base."

"Of course, I can see what I can do. We'll have to do a vote with the other operators."

"Is it possbile that I can present that meeting? I'd also like to include some uhh... Personal stuff in it."

Six gave the man a small smile and a nod. Luca and Grace stood up to leave but Six stopped him as she was halfway out the door. "If it's okay with you Luca, I'm still going to be calling you Ghost since I go by callsign."

Luca man nodded and left the office, shutting the door behind him.

"Y'know, that went way better than I expected it to." Luca said with a small laugh. "I thought Six would go on to talk about our budget and how it would be too expensive as well as how not every operator could do it."

"Technically, it would be helpful for our training program as it makes everybody more versatile."

"In a way I guess."

~"All operators to the Meeting Room please, one of your fellow operators has an announcement as well as a vote on a new type of training area."

"That was quick. Thought she'd go to Mike and Jordan to schedule it with them first so that it was at a time they agreed on but I guess we aren't busy at the moment." Luca said, scratching his head.

"The sooner the best I guess. I'll sit in the crowd so nobody think anything is going on." Grace replied.

"What do you mean by that? We aren't dating. Though we certainly are more than friends at this point."

Grace laughed at his confusion, "Exploring. We can leave it at that until you decide you'd like to bump it up a notch."

"I still don't understand where you're coming from. You're going to have to explain after this meeting is over."

"Have you always been single?" Luca nodded forcing Grace to roll her eyes, "That explains about all of you're obliviousness."

The two walked to the meeting room, splitting at the door. Grace took one of the seats near the podium. Her eyes began to wonder around Luca's body, how his arms were muscular but not built, his upright and ready to go stance, even how his stubble complimented his face and messy hairstyle. All of it combined his introverted and nerdy, yet willing personality all put together was a dream becoming a reality for her.

"Like what you see?"

Grace's face went bright red as she turned to see her Texan and Israeli comrades. "Uhm, maybe just a little bit?"

Eliza laughed while Jordan went to speak, "So did you end up finding Ghost and if so, does this have anything to do with him running off and leaving us in Mess Hall?"

"Yes I found him, and no this doesn't have anything to do with that though I was there with him when he asked Six to do this."

"So you know what it's about?" Eliza asked, leaning forward in her seat so the other operators that were entering wouldn't hear what Grace had to say.

"A freerunning course is what we're voting on since apparently Luc~ I mean Ghost did a lot of when he was younger and it has helped him in the field."

Eliza's eyes widened as Grace spoke, "Wait wait wait, did you learn Ghost's actual name? You were about to say either Lucas, Luke, or Luca. Which one is it?"

Grace bit her tongue, "Uhm, you'll maybe learn in his name today at this meeting but it isn't quite a guarantee."

"I'm excited then, I guess the masked man finally decides to reveal himself." Jordan said with a smile as he crossed his arms and leaned back.

Luca looked each and every one of his comrades as they entered the room, Gustave and Lera being the last to enter except for Six who stayed in the doorway leaving only him to notice her. After an approving nod from her, Luca began.

"Yes, hello everybody. Before we begin, I have a question. What would you guys like to start with? Both were my idea, the new training area or what I wanted to get out rather than keep in my head.?"

A couple of the operators shouted out what they wanted first but he heard more for the new training course than his personal stuff. "Okay, so when growing up as well as while I did my part against the White Mask, I was a free runner. Ya know, I did stuff like parkour whether it was for fun, to exercise, or I actually had to use it in the field to get whatever I needed to do done. So I was thinking we could build a new course for that for at least the basics of parkour so that everybody could know their body's full potential. Then for the operators who are confident in their skill, we could head to London or something and use the mass amount of buildings as our playground. Six could easily let the London Police units know that we'd be in town for training so we could do it without running from them and security guards like I use to have to. So I guess, yay or nay this, and I can count it up since there's already a notecard and pencil up here for some reason."

At the end of the poll, there were 31 votes for yay, 13 for nay. "Thank you Ghost for getting the voting done for that." Six said from the back, every operator in the room turning to look at her. "Now I believe you've got something to share?"

"Uhh correct ma'am. So I'm sure that you all have looked into my file since I've joined and have noticed there's very little personal information, most of the stuff being in there talking about what I've done and where I've been and what not. Well I just want to clear/add some more context to that. My name is Luca Pirelli, I was born 1/29/1988 in Henderson, Nevada and "died" 1/29/2007 on the very first White Mask terror attack at the Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was my 18th birthday when that attack had occurred and also ended up being the day where I lost my parents. Every since then after supposedly being found dead with a random body filling in my place with my parents' graves, I've been off the grid and have done everything I could to stay that way meaning I've done my fair share of crimes just like our buddy Dom over there. Though I had only ever stolen for my own greed once which you will all see tomorrow as my most prized position shows up here in an airfreight. The car I drove anytime I was back in any state near my home town, I had a favor left from an old friend so they're bringing my baby up here to the good 'ol U.K. Besides that, I really don't want to say anything else about my past as it is killing me from the inside out just to talk about it. You're all dismissed and have a wonderful day."

Discussion between the operators followed the room as they all prepared to leave, mainly the bigger operators as well as the older operators conversing about how they hoped that the newly established parkour training would be optional due to their ages and ways their bodies were built.

Luca stayed where he was, watching over the dying crowd as they all dispersed to go do their own things. Eventually the room had completely emptied of everybody, including Grace to much of his surprise. A small sigh of relief released from Luca as he covered his face. "I can't fucking believe I just did that, oh my fucking god."

After taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way down from the podium and out the side door to be greeted by Grace, Eliza, Jordan, and Sébastien. Grace pulled him into a tight embrace in which he returned causing the others to chuckle.

"You know Luca," Sébastien began, "It sounds like this calls for a celebration, eh?"

"Not tonight by Northern friend. Tomorrow though, we can. You can all join me to pick up Naraya, she's going to be waiting for us."

"You've got a girlfriend yet here you are with Grace? That's a little fucked up man, don't you think?" Jordan taunted.

Luca released Grace but kept her by his side, "You already know who the hell Naraya is, and if not then me and you can race tomorrow. I haven't seen every operator's vehicles yet so I'm interested to see what Mr. and Mrs. Yeehaw have."

"2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392, you already know that being an American, I love my American muscle." Thermite replied, a smirk on his face.

"Then I guess great minds think alike, Mopar or no car. We can race tomorrow unless you're scared."

Jordan opened his mouth to respond but Eliza covered it and took the words right out of her boyfriend's mouth. "Hell yeah we'll race you! Poor 'ol Sébastien won't be able to keep up to us in his old 2009 BMW 335i."

"Yeah yeah, we'll see you tomorrow then. I'm going to bed." The couple moved out of the way to allow Luca to head to his room as he dragged Grace with him the entire way.

"Why are you bringing me with you? I'm not tired yet." Grace asked while Luca unlocked the door to his room.

"You don't want me to end up like I did this morning do you?" He asked, Grace shaking her head at the question, "Exactly. Therefore you're going to be keeping me company so I don't do any more dumbass shit."

Grace rolled her eyes as Ghost opened the door and kicked off his shoe and loosened boot into an empty corner of the room. "You don't gotta sleep, just stay with me until I do then you're free to leave." He added since he knew she'd get bored.

* * *

 **Half An Hour Later**

 **8:15 PM**

Luca has been passed out for easily fifteen minutes yet Grace was still sitting on his bed using his stomach as a pillow while she scrolled through social media on her tablet. Her mind was in a completely different place however, it roamed on all the different events that had occurred throughout the day and how all it took for her and Luca to become a "thing" was just letting it come by naturally just like Jordan had wanted for him and Eliza. Grace turned the tablet off and put it on the desk next to Luca's laptop before going back to sitting on the bed while resting her head on his stomach. She enjoyed the how calm each breath was that came from him despite everything that troubled him from deep within his mind. A knock came from the door forcing a groan out of the korean as she stood. She opened the door, revealing Shuhrat.

"Hello Grace, why have you opened door rather than Luca opening the door? You two sure have moved quickly together." He said, slightly slurring his words.

Grace's face went bright red as she responded "He asked me to make sure he actually went to sleep tonight rather than staying up like he normally does, have you been drinking with Alexsandr again?"

"Only little bit, we are tipsy at most. Anyways, come with me. We talk about Luca for a moment because I fear he is like me."

Grace was intrigued yet concerned since every operator here knew Shuhrat's background profiles about how he had caused a couple of accidental casualties that had been redacted thanks to Six as well as his own bad memories from when he was younger. Grace nodded and followed him out the door, shutting it behind them.

"We're going to Recreation Room. Other operators may be in there but it's nothing too bad, just something for you to keep an eye out on from stuff I've noticed since he's showed up."

"What's so concerning that you have to tell me? Grace asked, tilting her head slightly in perplexion.

"Oh you know. Suicidal thoughts, severe depression and anxiety, maybe some PTSD symptoms without having it, nothing booze can't fix."

"And why do you worry about that?"

"New cuts and scars have been appearing on his arms and legs and they're not from training comrade Grace. There obviously something wrong going on in that head of his. He has demons like me torturing him from what he's witnessed in his lifetime. He was off the grid after all so Gus has no psychological profile on him."

"I'll keep an eye out for him Shu, don't worry."

Shuhrat raised an eyebrow, "I not worried about what happens here. I know you and Jordan keep good eye out on him. It's out on missions I fear. He could be unpredictable and self reliant since that's what the man is use to, from what we know due to Bartlett, he could be a more ruthless interrogator than Miss Taina as well as a relentless killer. Have you not seen the pictures of the blood, guts, and organs he's left in multiple different locations including Bartlett?"

"He worked alone so he did what he had to."

"That may be so but it's not humane."

"His gadget lets him detonate remote explosive that they can hold on to, yours explode from at least a little bit of distance so he caused more damage."

"Perhaps so but even then, I did little research based on news articles from his previous jobs that were actually released to the public and it can get very gored up and gruesome."

"Shu, if that ever happens, we can inform Six about it. But until then, that's not in our jurisdiction. We have no control on how he handles certain situations, we just have to let him do what he thinks is best for getting the job done."

The drunken man nodded as he stood, "Have good night then comrade, just know I'd keep a strong eye on Mr. Luca on any mission we go on. He good guy."

As Shuhrat left, Timur had sat down in front of a disturbed Grace. "Is everything alright girly?"

Grace snapped back into reality from the depths of her thoughts, "Umm yeah, I think so. It's just that Shuhrat got me thinking about how he could possibly be right."

"Be right on what? I wasn't exactly listening to your conversation. I just looked your way as something looked like it was wrong."

"He said that Luca could possibly be unpredictable on the field as his techniques when going against the White Masks were brutal and he was merciless. He just killed them like it was nothing and moved on to the next guy is sorta what he was talking about."

Tim patted the girl's shoulder a couple of times, "Have no worries my friend. I'm sure that he does his job differently than all us but I bet he could tone it down a bit. After all, he's got us now. He doesn't need to use a fear factor like before to startle them."

"I mean, I guess but I don't know. I'm still just not convinced."

"Here's my suggestion, go to your room and put your пижама on. I'd bet that you'll be more comfy sleeping in those than what you're currently wearing. A nice long night of sleep should rid your head of any of those negative thoughts."

Grace slowly nodded her head as she stood. She took a couple of steps towards the door but stopped and turned to her Russian friend. "Thanks Tim, I'll be sure to do that."

He gave her a smile and a nod of approval, setting her on her way. Grace slowly walked to her room while her mind was blowing up with every different possibility and all the outcomes that could happen based on different occasions. She went into the room and quickly threw on a gray tank top and fuzzy black sweatpants on. Grace paid no attention to her own bed though and slowly made her way backs to Luca's room knowing she hadn't locked it yet.

Grace opened the door and peered in to see the light from outside reflecting off his eyes. "Are you back Grace?" He asked, his voice drowsy and unsure.

She walked in and closed the door behind her before sitting on the bed. "Yes, it's me Luca. I just wanted to check on you before I went to bed." She whispered.

"Come please," He said, yawning as he lifted the covers and blankets.

"Luca, you know I can't. Besides, you're probably tired to the point to where you don't even know what you're doing."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied as he slowly took her glasses off and set them on the nightstand next to his bed. "Please? For me?" He added as he moved his free hand next to her thigh.

Grace giggled at the tired man's attempts. "Fine, just this one time." She taunted as she scooted further onto the bed. He pulled her down to where her back was against his chest and his arm that was once holding the covers up was now draped over her stomach.

"Goodnight Gracie." He mumbled into her ear.

A smile crept onto her face as bliss and comfort took over her entire mindset. "Goodnight Luca."

* * *

 **10k Words later and its finally complete. I may be 56 minutes late than what my goal was but I hope y'all enjoyed. All feedback is appreciated!**


	5. Viper Venom

**Next chapter, here we go. Nothing much to actually say here except the chapters are going to be toned down a bit to around maybe 6-10k but that's only so I can get chapters out. If y'all are fine with waiting a little while longer for longer chapters, please let me know.**

 **Also sorry for a bit of a wait. Been busy with school, gaming, and life in general. It will all hopefully be worth it though in the end. Thank you everybody for 1000 views. I didn't actually think that this story would get as much attention as it has been but thank you once again, I appreciate if you like the story or are just checking it out for the first time.**

 **Other than that, I hope y'all enjoy, all reviews are appreciated.**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/26/2019**

 **8:25 AM**

Grace's eyes fluttered open revealing the sleeping face of Luca who seemed to be in complete and utter bliss. His forehead rested against her head while his arms wrapped around her waist, meeting together on her back. A small smile crossed her face while she slowly played and caressed his hair. His grip on her tightened which brought her closer to him to the point to where they had no space between them. His eyes slowly opened, blinking as they tried to adjust to the sunlight coming through his window.

"Goodmorning Luca." Grace said as she scooted further up the bed so that she could be eye level with him.

He squinted at her, "When I asked you to help me go to bed, I don't think I invited you to sleep with me."

"That's not what the tired you said, you wanted me to sleep with you, holding me all tight and close to you. Besides, we are exploring after all." She replied, cuddling her face into his neck so that his chin rested just above her head.

Luca rolled his eyes as he positioned his arms, one to gently rub Grace's back and the other to play with her hair. "You know, I have no idea what time it is but at the moment, I don't think I care. Much to my surprise, I'm actually enjoying this."

"That's the perk of "exploring" Luca, thought you'd of learned this by now." She teased, squeezing one of his cheeks.

"Maybe so. But I wouldn't know that. I've never actually slowed down enough in life to do something like this. Hell, when me and Emma went on those few dates, they were hardly even dates. They were more like just breaks from being in constant combat but we called them dates since it lightens the mood and all the tension back then."

"You did what you had to. Now you have people to rely on, just enjoy it. Besides, you've got me as well. That's definitely an added bonus in this case."

To much of her surprise, he kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Better late than never to slow down in life rather than speed up again. Might as well while I'm still young. I've still got a couple of days until I'm 31."

"I mean, I'm the same age as you year wise. You're only just barely older than me. But on the bright side, I am still a mere 3 days younger than you Luca so I still get to be the younger of the two." She teased.

Luca closed his eyes in peace and tranquility, life was perfect for the first time in forever. He had Grace in his arms, nothing to worry about since he had gotten permission from Six to take the day off a few days before, and his one and only prized possession lands on British soil within the next few hours. His life was slowly turning around from the shit hole it had been previously, all because of a single woman who he had found extremely annoying for her persistence and cheerfulness she presented when he first met her. In over a week though, she managed to open his mind up to accept not only her, but other operators too that he originally had no intentions befriending. Who knew that all it took to get him so show at least faint amounts of his true colors was a single person to persevere and silently sneak into his person shell to open him up from the inside out.

"Y'know Grace," He began, pulling her up to him from her thighs, "I don't think I've lived this peacefully in the last twelve years and I actually haven't I guess properly thanked you yet." He said, gazing off into her eyes.

A small smile appeared on Grace's face as she closed some of the space between her and Luca's face, their noses touching. "I don't expect you to say thank you, but if you really want to I know the perfect way for you to give your thanks to me."

"And what would that be? You aren't normally the type to want something in return from when I've met you."

Grace said nothing, she only shot him a loving and seductive look in response as she moved closer and closer to the point to where there lips only had a few millimeters to spare between them. The two didn't hesitate as their lips connected, their eyes closing to enjoy the kiss to the full effect. Grace's head was the complete opposite of Luca's during their moment. She was calm, collected, and prepared for whatever it through at her. On the other hand, Luca was nervous and scared. He didn't actually expect Grace to cease the opportunity so he wasn't at all prepared. Grace's arms wrapped around his upper back, her hands meeting behind his head while he had one of his arms going up her shirt, his hand resting on his back while his other hand held her in place from while gently holding the back of her head.

Luca could have sworn that he heard his door creek open but ignored seeing as Grace didn't seem alarmed over any type of noise. After a good minute and a half, the two separated, goofy smiles covering both of their bright red faces.

Grace giggled, "Sorry… I couldn't help myself."

"You're all fine. I think you can tell that I enjoyed it. My only worry was that somebody would walk in since I'm not sure if the door was unlocked or not."

Luca's phone vibrated so he pulled the charger from it and took the device off of his nightstand. The screen revealed that he received a new notification from Ash less than a minute ago. He sighed when the text finally opened consisting of a picture of him and Grace kissing with some text under it. "While you two decided to hook up, I just wanted to remind you that Grace owes me money now and to get ready. We're going to go pick up your car because Jordan thinks his Challenger is better than whatever you have."

He chuckled, "I swear. Eliza finds a way to do anything. Also, it's time to get up Gracie. You're gonna have to go back to your room to get clothes and shower unless you're fine with waiting for me to shower then you can use mine after."

"I'll use yours, thank you for the offer." She replied, giving him a peck on the lips as she sat up in the bed. Grace left the room leaving Luca with only his thoughts to keep him company.

A hardly noticeable smile covered his face as he got up and collected some of the clothing Grace had gotten for him before heading to the showers.

Grace was in a world of her own while walking back to get her clothing. She was sure that every step she took had a slight skip in it. "Hey Grace, did you enjoy your time with Luca." An Israeli woman asked as she walked up behind Grace as she was unlocking her door.

"Was interesting to say the least. Didn't expect him to return any affection I gave him. Guess I owe you now, don't I?"

Eliza jokingly put on a face full of thought before looking the korean girl dead in the eyes, nothing but seriousness filling her own. "I'm fuckin with you, you can keep your money. Just wanted to see if raising the stakes would discourage you or not since you seem to always be determined at everything."

"Yeah yeah whatever Eliza. Just know that once me and him are dating, I will have the better boyfriend." Grace teased.

"Mine's more experienced." Eliza shot back.

The two laughed at the light banter as Grace entered her room and collected a new pair of clothes. "I'm heading back to Luca's room. I'm showering after he finishes so that I don't have to wait for hot water." Grace said, locking her door to head back to her "man's" room.

"You just want to see him partially nude you sly dog but that's none of my business. Have fun kid and meet us at the Parking Lot." Eliza replied, waving farewell for now."

Grace jogged back to Luca's room so that less people would see her taking clothes to a different room. She closed and locked the door behind her before plopping onto the bed while clutching her clothes waiting for Luca.

* * *

 **Half An Hour Later**

Grace and Luca walked down to the parking lot which consisted of a huge selection of vehicles, some being the base's own armoured vehicles, the rest being their fellow operator's vehicles. Much to Luca's surprise, most of the vehicles in the lot were local cars sold in the U.K rather than being imported from other countries with a couple of exceptions like Jordan's Challenger and a Nissan Skyline GTS-T which he assumed belonged the Masaru.

"Over here you beautiful couple!" Jordan shouted from his car. The two jogged over to his Challenger to see only him in the car, Eliza being nowhere in sight.

"Where's Eliza?" Grace asked.

"On her way. She'll be hopping in with me and then you two lovebirds are going to ride with Sébastien."

Not even a second after be finished speaking, Sébastien's white BMW 335i pulled up behind them. A door swung open revealing Eliza. "Oh hello you two! Didn't realize you'd be out here so soon, thought you two had other plans you were going to address before coming here but it looks like I was wrong."

"Nope, we showered, got dressed, and came out here. Now get in your boyfriends car Hot Head, we have to head to London and that's a good three hour drive."

"Eh, is it fine if you drive? I'm still tired my friend and Eliza forced me to drive her since she's never been in my car before." Sébastien asked as he got out of the car.

"Sure dude, just sleep in the back." Luca replied as him and Grace approached the white Bimmer.

He hopped into the drive seat while Grace got into the passenger, "This is a first."

"What is?" Grace asked, sharing a confused look with Sébastien.

"I've never driven on the right side before. Nearly got me a right hand drive Jeep Wrangler but decided not to. Besides, most countries I went to drove on the right side of the road and left side of the car. The countries that were the opposite though, I just took taxis that were okay with me having weapons if I paid extra."

"You'll be fine my friend, the petals and levers are all the same. Just follow Jordan and Eliza then they can follow you to the docks since I assume you can just use Google to get there."

Ghost shrugged, "I guess. Might as well since it's my car after all that we're picking up."

He back Sébastien's car up to let Jordan out and slowly followed them off base past the outpost. It was going to be a long drive but it would be all worth it to get his baby back to base as he hadn't seen her in over two years as an old friend was taking care of her.

Time slowly ticked by as the group drove through the countryside. Sébastien had already passed out leaving Luca and Grace to talk among themselves as they'd have to call Jordan or Eliza to talk to them.

"So Grace, you excited to see my most prized possession?" Luca asked, turning to her for a moment before looking back at the road.

"Hm? A car is your most prized possession?"

"Yeah. It's the one thing I've kept in recent years that reminded me of home and life before I killed for a living. Why?"

"Nothing. Just didn't expect a car to be what you held closest to your heart."

The two sat their in silence, thinking of ways to end the awkwardness but neither wanting to be the one to initiate the conversation so that it wouldn't crash and burn. Grace was thinking about all the different ways she could open Luca up about his past more, Luca on the other hand had other things stored in the back of his mind.

"Why'd ya choose me instead of any other guy here?" He asked. "I'm not really that interesting, just a guy off killing other bad people with a lack of empathy for others."

"You're new here which sort of helped me. Because you weren't somebody I already had some basic knowledge of, you instantly became more interesting than every other man here. But I guess what really made me want to get to know you were your looks and your background if I have to be honest with you. The moment I first saw you, even in the state and condition you were in on that stretcher, my heart may have jumped a beat in both excitement and fear, I'm not really sure as I don't remember too well. But I do remember that I instantly went to Six to read your files. I think I first dedicated myself to try and befriend you when I learned that you were also a hacker like me. Before you came here, anything that had to do with computers and all that, I was the go to person."

"So you went for me because you think I'm cute and because I am also capable of doing things others can't on computers?" He teased causing Grace to get flustered.

"U-uh no… That is just what I guess where you piqued my interest. I didn't actually expect me to gain uh feelings for you at first but after seeing how closed off you were from the world, I wanted to fix what was broken from within you. Everybody deserves to be happy in life and you're no exception to that either. I know you have your reasoning for closing yourself off and quite literally pushing yourself away from the rest of the world, but even a man that nobody knows exist has emotion and feelings too. You can't deny that after your little stunt."

Luca sat there and drove in silence for a couple minutes, thinking about what the girl said to him. "My past, hm? I don't understand why she'd want to fix it because it's going to take more than just duct tape and super glue. While yeah, I should move on because it's been 12 years but it's mainly just the trauma that's kept it with me all the years."

"Grace?"

"Yes Luca?"

"I think I have a better solution for you."

"And what would that be?"

"Rather than fix my past, could we work on my future? I put some thought into it which is why it's taken me a while to respond 'bout what happened to me. Well, it's been nearly twelve years man and I just need to get that stupid shit out of my head. Sure, that event forced me to change into a shitty person that I never wanted to be but it's too late now to really fix that. As long as my mind is off the topic, it'll eventually stop getting to me emotionally and I could maybe get better. But if you really want to help me, can you please do me a favor and put others first? After all, our job is to get a better future for others since you can't change what happened in the past."

"Anything sounds good to me as long as I get to take care of you one way or another. Also I have a question for you." She replied, grabbing his hand which had been resting on the center console between them.

Luca accepted her grasp and returned it. "Shoot away. I may have an answer for you."

"Well two actually. The first one is why have you all of a sudden taken a liking to me? For the first couple of days, you were just all annoyed at me and refused to do anything outside of our job together but eventually it seemed like you had started to enjoy my company."

Luca just replied with a shrug. "I did say that I may have an answer, it's not a guarantee. That's one of the few few things that I do not actually have one for because I don't know what happened or what had changed within me being completely honest with you. What else is on your mind?"

"Why did you join Rainbow? Everybody has their reasons on why they did."

"I was in prison. So I had two choices really, I could spend the rest of my life in prison unless I broke it which I probably could have, or I could join here so I guess you can tell which I chose. If I didn't get caught back in Oregon, then I wouldn't of ever been in Rainbow even though Twitch had offered a few times throughout the years to join the "organization" she was a part of which was you guys. Sometimes life just doesn't work out as planned and great opportunities you may have rejected in the past force themselves into your life to make it better whether you like it or not."

The two managed to keep their conversation going for the full three hours but it had finally be interrupted Jordan via radio saying "Welcome to London ladies and gentleman."

"What do you mean welcome to London? It's nothing but fields still." Luca said as he drove over a hill, revealing the bustling city of London. "It looks ancient, exactly how I expected it to but it like an extremely fucking fun regardless to do some running around town."

Luca's phone began to ring, an unknown number on it. He hesitated at first but eventually accepted the call and sat the phone down on speaker. "Hello?"

"Luca! It's been a while my friend. Lucy and I have been worried that something has happened." A familiar voice spoke.

"Pierce, is that you?"

"Yessir it's me good and in the flesh. I talked to Rome earlier, your snake actually has already arrived in London and I'm sending to the H.R Owen 's Ferrari Dealership for you so that you know nobody's grubby little hands have touched her."

"Thanks man. I appreciate it but I don't know what a Ferrari Dealership is going to do with it. American car, Italian dealership, the only things they have in common is around the same horsepower and are both hand made."

The pair could hear Pierce's face hit a desk or something like that with a grumble following afterwards. "Look man, they know how to treat artwork, okay? If you want anything else from your collection then let me know. You'll just have to wire me the money."

"That won't be difficult. Still have a couple million left in the account as well as the vehicle's values going up and my stocks going up. If I ever need more cash, I'll just do it again."

"That's if you make it out alive man. Anyways, see you later dude. Just wanted to let you know so you didn't waste your time to find your car not there. Do me a favor as well, stop by when you're state side."

"Will do Pierce, tell Rome and Lucy I said hello."

"Will do, peace homie."

Luca hung up the phone and picked up the radio from the cup holder. "Take me to the local Ferrari Dealership here. That's where my girl is."

"Dude, what do you drive for it to be at a Ferrari Dealership now?" Jordan asked.

"Don't worry about it. Grace is currently giving me a stare that could kill because my buddy and I were talking about how I'm not going to be running out of money anytime soon. Anyways, we'll follow you to the Dealership. I think I have some explaining to do."

"So what did you do that made you wealthy?" She asked, seemingly angry since he's told her about how he's been on the wrong side of the law a good amount in the last 13 years.

"You know. Small heists consisting of only a couple hundred thousand dollars from banks that had millions of dollars. They haven't noticed yet because I didn't go to prison for that. I may or may not have have took around 10 million or so dollars from the White Masks back in 2014 as I just kinda wired the money from their account to mine. The car we're picking up is around $130,000. That's not exactly what I'd call cheap. And as I've stated before, I'm not exactly a good guy. I'd say I lean more on the criminal side since my job was illegal at the time causing me to get arrested."

Grace's look was filled with disappointment and disapproval. To be honest, it kind hurt him. He understood that those were shitty and awful things to do but he lost his self respect ages ago and didn't care for what happened to himself or others. He just lived life one day at a time doing whatever he wanted while trying to figure out the locations of other White Mask locations. Hell, he hadn't even reunited with his old friend Rome until maybe 2014. For the seven years before that, he was forced to torture anyone and everyone he knew had some type of info. He kidnapped many police officers, FBI Agents, CIA Agents, drug traffickers, etc just to get something out of them. And it worked. He was never tracked down and it still thought to be dead.

Luca took a deep breath and focused on the road as he followed Jordan into the busy city. A small frown was noticeable on his face but he didn't dare acknowledge it. "As I said," he mumbled, sadness and shame clear in his voice, "I can't change what I've done in the past. It's never too late to give up on me because just gotta remember, I do have a death wish. I don't want you to take a bigger bite than what you can swallow when it comes to me. I'd much rather you not waste your time on me and to do your own thing. You'd be happier, I'm too depressing."

"I'm still fixing your future whether you like it or not," Grace said sternly, you talking down about yourself makes me want to help even more."

Luca shook his head with a sigh. "Wake Sébastien up please. It seems like we're here."

Grace nodded as Luca followed the Dodge into the Dealership's back lot. The four got out of their cars followed their stretching Canadian comrade. The five walked into the Dealership, everybody except for Luca gawking at all the exotic cars.

"Damn dude! I'd love to have one of these but I doubt I could even touch the insurance."

"They're alright. I'm not sure what I think about some of them. If I wanted, I could trade my 8C for one but thats still stateside." Luca told the Texan with a shrug.

"8C?"

"Nevermind. Guess you aren't as much of a gashead or I guess in this case now, petrolhead as I am." Luca stated.

"Dude, if it isn't American, I'll probably know the name and that's it. I never actually grew up with exotic car posters in my wall. I had stuff like Corvettes, Vipers, and all that."

"Then you'll like what I've got in store." Luca mumbled to where only he'd hear himself speak.

While the others looked around at all the rich people toys as Luca liked to call them, he found the nearest employee.

"Yes, hello Sir. I believe my car is here according to my friend."

The man looked up from his computer and at Luca. "Ah, are you the one Pierce I think his name was said was coming? He said don't ask for a name but we sort of have to since people could come in just to steal the cars."

Luca sighed and pulled out his phone to call Pierce back. The device rang for a couple of seconds before he eventually picked up.

"Yeah, what is it mate?"

"Can you speak with the employee for me? I'm going to make sure nothing has happened to her while coming here." Luca said, handing the gentleman the phone before walking into the back service shop to see his car being polished by one of the technicians. He took a couple of steps forward to check on how good of job he was doing but the man stood up and began putting the tools away before standing back and putting his hands on his hips a proud.

"Glad you like her and thank you for polishing her up for me, she's got a couple of hours drive to get to her new home." He said, putting a hand on the guy's shoulder.

He looked surprised at first but that quickly faded into a smile. "Dude, it's not everyday 2017 Dodge SRT Viper TA comes to Britain. It was my honor to do this for you."

"Luca! The guy said you can take your car now and to give your phone back. Now where is this~" Jordan shouted, stopping in the middle of his sentence to gawk at car.

"Dude, I knew I was cocky for my boyfriend but damn dude. Yellow with black stripes too?" Eliza said, taking her aviators off to see the colors better."

Luca made his way to the driver's seat and started the car, it's roar showing an obvious aftermarket exhaust that had no mufflers on it.

"Cmon Jordan, you do owe him a race after all." Sébastien said, a huge smiling covering his face with Grace walking in behind him.

Luca rolled down his passenger window, "Get in Gracie! The Snake has been released and it's hungry for some lower branches of Mopar."

He noticed one of the technicians open the garage behind him and gave him a thumbs up to bring his baby back home. He waited for Grace - whose excitement was obvious despite her trying to hide it - to get into the car before backing up and waiting by the parking lot's exit for Sébastien and Jordan to get in their cars and follow him.

Jordan eventually pulled up next to him, his face pale knowing he already lost. "Don't worry mate, once we hit the country roads I can assure you I'll let all 8.4 liters of the beautiful V10 do its thing. The three pulled out of the dealership's lot with Luca in front and Sébastien holding up the rear. Knowing that he had no radio in his car to communicate with Jordan or Séb, as well as his GPS needing to be updated to suit its new life in Britain, he pulled up Google Maps and began following the directions it gave.

"So what do you think? No replacement for displacement, or the bigger the better. Either works." Luca said as he carefully shifted through the gears trying to get out of London as fast as possible while still following the law.

"We can talk when we're back out in the country. I'm still a little angry at you for the choices you've made in life."

"I apologize but I was just doing what any off the grid person would have. Life back then was basically what the movies it showed it to be." He said, shrugging off what she said. He looked down at the GPS and noticed that they were a single turn away from out of what was considered London. Using the car's infotainment system, he called Jordan.

"Hey, we're basically out of town. First empty stretch of road you see, I want you to pull up next to me. You already know what happens from there."

"Alrighty smart ass," The Texan short back, "Can you and Eliza call off the bet based on you beating me? I know your Viper will whoop my little 6.2 Liter V8's ass with ease because you're lighter and and have more power than me because I can't afford a Hellcat and the Demon I think it was called, is for North America only."

"Sure dude. Everybody's reactions were worth it, I don't need anything in return."

The three kept driving for another half an hour before coming across a perfectly paved two-lane road that seemed to be as used as a Ghost Town. He saw Séb flash his lights behind him as the roar of a V8 flew by him before slowing down to cruise next to Luca and his Viper. He looked over to Grace who gave him a nod and smirk.

"Hey Jordy, I'm going to hang up. Tell Sébastien to flash the light before counting down and to honk three times. We go on the final honk."

"Got it chief, peace dude." The Texan replied, a click following his words.

A little further down the road, he saw the lights blink behind him and downshifted up from fourth down to 3rd then to 2nd, Jordan in his Challenger doing to the same.

*Honk*

*Honk*

*Honnkkkkk*

As both him and his comrade floored it, he looked to see Grace holding onto her seat as it pushed her further into it, a look of fear, excitement, and confusion plastered onto her face. The boat that was Jordan's car had accelerated quicker and harder due to more weight over the rear axles and more traction since Luca's Viper didn't have any traction control. By the time the Snake had any grip it could get it's tires on, it flew by Jordan and Eliza. A massive smile covered Luca's face as he shifted through the gears, his speedometer reading 170 and still climbing. Seeing that they were nearing a corner, he eased on to the brakes back down to what he assumed was the speed limit due to him only knowing a couple of the MPH to KPH translations. He was taken out of his thirst for speed when Grace grabbed his hand again and tickled his palm.

"What's up kid?" He asked, ignoring the fact that they both knew he went around 175 in what he assumed was a 40 zone.

"I don't think I'm mad at you anymore, that was something I have never experienced in my life." She said, her voice's pitch a little higher and filled with excitement.

"It's impossible for Naraya here to not bring a smile to anybody's face. I'll do a couple of pulls along the way but this thing doesn't get the best of gas mileage. Cut the thing in half and it's still a 4.25 liter 5-Cylinder which is massive so we shall definitely be making at least one, maybe two times."

The car's Bluetooth phone began to ring. Grace answered it for him after tapping the icon on the screen. "Yeah Sébastien?"

"Uhh you guys may want to floor it because a cop just flew by me and I don't know if he's going to pull over Jordan or not… Nope, cop flew by him too, they're going for you."

"Alright, thanks for the heads up Séb. Tell Jordan we'll meet you all somewhere down the line but do me a favor, let's not speak of some getting into a police chase a week into a job I probably shouldn't have." Luca replied has he slowly started putting his foot down while still in sixth gear.

There was a click and then the car was silent. "First police chase, at least on the receiving end that is?" Luca asked, trying to make casual conversation.

"First I've actually ever been in. Every chase that Jordan or Siu has ever gone on, I hadn't been apart of those operations. Better get going and hope for the best fuel economy you can get at speeds." Grace replies with a shrug.

A cheeky smile found its way onto the American driver's face as he floored it to gain some more space from the speeding Vauxhall Astra that has flown by his friends. After staying at around a good 150 miles per hour for most of the straight road, he let the car's speed die down a bit. He kept the car in 6th gear riding along the lines of 3000 RPM which met the car cruise at around 100 mph easily.

"Hey Gracie?" Luca asked.

"Hm?"

"Do me a favor and don't get me anything on my birthday. I already know what I want from you when the day arrives."

"Awwwwww, my poor little wittle baby doesn't want me to get him anything that could potentially be from my heart and soul, waaah." She teased.

Luca chuckled, "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you. You should know that I'll be able to get what I want from you, I'm much more capable than what you think I am. It's just that me being in a boot is a pain in the ass. On the bright side, I get out of it on my birthday."

"So I'll finally get to see you in one piece without anything holding you together now? I think this will be fun. I'll finally get to see your full potential in training and on the field."

"You think you're, excited? How do you think I feel? I'm ecstatic to get back up and gunning."

The two held their conversation for the entirety of the rest of the trip back home which wasn't nearly as long as the one heading to London since he was sure he was going 40 or 50 over the speed limit.

To much of his surprise, there were a couple of other operators out in the lot when he pulled in.

All eyes turned to him when he revved it a small amount. He rolled down his window and shouted to the nearest operator, "Hey Miles! Is there assigned parking or can I just choose anywhere here."

"You can park anywhere man and duuuude, that's a badass car. How in the hell are you able to afford a Viper?" Miles asked while he looked around in the car, also surprised to see Grace in the car.

"You don't want to know. Also don't worry about Jordan, Eliza, and Sébastien. I may have left them in the dust because me and Jordan races and according to Sébastien, cops flew by him and Jordan so I gunned it. I ain't gonna mess with the law since I'm on the right side of it technically now."

"Aye man, you do you. I won't rat you out for it. Hell, I use to do the same thing when I first got my license. Also do me a favor, give her a few revs. I wanna hear this beauty roar."

Luca happily obliged and revved it a couple times, hitting redline on the final one which sent a flame out nearly burning Miles' leg. "Sorry about that, thought you knew it had side pipes."

"Nah man, I knew. Just didn't think I'd get almost scorched. Anyways, I'll catch you later man. I'm waiting for Jordan to get back. Need to discuss something with him about getting my walls to be more useful." Miles replied, lightly tapping inside the door before walking off to wait for his fellow FBI agents.

Luca quickly parked in the first open spot he saw that was nearest to the facility before getting out, Grace doing the same. Grace went to grab his hand as the two entered the compound but held back after seeing the number of operators that were out and about to much of her surprise.

"If you want to, we can just back to my dorm and we can watch YouTube or tv on my laptop if you'd prefer that over going to the Rec Room." Luca suggested.

"Yes please, that would be great."

* * *

 **Yay new chapter is done. I probabky could have finished this htyesterday actually but my dumb ass passed out so its a night later than what it could have been but oh well. If you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review. Each review goes towards me writing these Author's Notes on Google Docs with the the rest of the chapter instead of severely lagging while writing it on Fanfiction's website itself. I'll statt the next chapter tomorrow so peace out guys.**


	6. Crashing The Party

**I added more to chapters one and two because I felt that they were way too short. I'm not sure how long this chapter is going to be or what I'm going to be doing as I always write these author notes before I write or while I write. Any notes that come after the chapter are always at the very bottom.**

 **I apologize in advanced for how long it actually took for me to write this chapter. I keep on getting sidetracked as well trying to figure out things I could do for this chapter as I didn't exactly want it to get repetitive having two birthdays in a single chapter. So theres a curveball this chapter.**

 **Hope y'all enjoy this story as much as I do, I'm going to try and keep a schedule of updating the story every one to three weeks to keep it consistent. For the most part, it'll be one to two weeks since the three week span** **is only going to be when I go back and fix/change/add major stuff to previous chapters. Gonna stop now and go write this chapter so enjoy ths chapter.**

 **(Thank you for 2000 views. My story somehow exploded in the time between this chapter and the last one doubling in views)**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **1/29/2019**

 **8:30 AM**

The world was silent as Luca laid staring at his ceiling lost in thought. Since Grace had first shared his room with her, she had been spending more time in it with or without him but last night she said she'd be staying in her own room because she needed to do something important for his birthday. He had actually been awake for nearly three hours and had already showered but had went back to laying in his bed waiting for some type of sign that he could officially leave his room. In all honesty, he was nervous. He hadn't had any sort of official birthday in his life because he was always the antisocial type. Growing up, he never had many friends so he made sure his parents never threw parties for him. After he had supposedly died, his birthday had became irrelevant and was just another day. For years he had forgotten his age. It took him being arrested to actually remember as they had no files on him.

He sighed as he kicked his legs off the bed and hunched over the edge with his face in his hands. After shaking his head slightly to wake himself up, he stood up and left his room.

The halls were empty and quiet, so only noise within the corridors were the sounds of his footsteps and what sounded to be somebody else's as well. He continued downstairs and was met by none other than the jovial Alexsandr himself.

"How are you doing my lord, where is everybody at? There isn't any mission that we missed that I know of and don't think that Six has given everybody permission to go off the base's premises all at once."

The Russian shrugged, "I don't know. I was wondering the same thing. Would you like to go to Mess Hall? Maybe they made food before disappearing comrade cause I'm starving."

"Sure. Maybe at least one person will be in there."

Him and Alex were alright friends, they didn't actually talk much at all during the day but that was due to the fact that they were sober. When drunk, doing shots with different types of vodka and liquor, the two were social butterflies and were more open, loud, and proud about everything more so than any other person should be. The two would often be joined by the other operators, mainly the male ones, but the most common would be Shuhrat. The only downside to him though is that he drank the most on a daily basis whether or not the rest of the group was drinking so it was almost guaranteed that he'd wake up with a hangover. When the two had finally made it to their eating quarters, Alex motioned for Luca to go first.

"Why are the lights off?" Luca asked as he opened the door and stood in the doorway.

The lights shot on as Alex shoved Luca forward, he saw an arm holding a pie shoot out from behind the door. Before he could duck out of the way, it nailed him in the face as the entire room erupted into one giant shout, "Happy Birthday!"

Luca wiped off the pie covering his eyes and licked what had gotten over his mouth. He looked around to see everybody everybody wearing more casual outfits, some holding confetti cannons, others with party hats on, and the remaining people with screamers.

He saw Grace come out from behind that door and pulled him into the room. "It's not much but I didn't know what you wanted since we had never actually talked about it, butttt, I made sure to get your favorite cake. Red velvet!"

Everybody looked towards the doors that lead to the kitchen as a cart carrying multiple red velvet cakes came into view with Zofia behind them. "Hello! Happy Birthday!" She said as she parked the cart in the center of the room and pulled out a bunch of utensils and plates from a drawer in the cart. "Birthday boy gets his piece first, all you heathens stay back."

Luca chuckled and grabbed a napkin to wipe his face with, quickly getting the pie and its shards off his face, shoulders, and neck before throwing it away. He quickly sliced through the big chunk that was outlined in black icing for him and set it on a plate at well as a normal sized piece on another plate. He walked over to Grace and handed her the bigger of the two slices.

"I know that you all want a party so dive in to those cakes. They aren't all for me!"

The entire room circled around the cake while Grace and Luca stayed back, taking small bites of their pieces of cake. "Hey Grace, once the party dies down a bit I'd like my present." He said with a whisper and a nudge.

"Shit I knew I was forgetting something. I'm sorry, but I forgot your present. We can go out later today to go and get it."

Luca put a single finger over her lips and made sure to get as close as possible to her. "You already have what I want so don't worry yourself thinking you forgot to buy me anything. The best gifts come from the heart."

"If that's the case, what from your heart are you going to get me? I thought you were a heartless cold blooded killing machine."

"I don't know, it depends what you want from me. Since I already know what I want from you, it makes your job a hell of a lot easier to where i don't know what you want so I'll struggle more to find something."

"Well it is a good thing that I may get what I want on your birthday. Besides, on my birthday I think we should just go to town and hang out for a day. Just me and you this time, nobody else. It would be fun with just us hanging out. We can go do whatever we want and nobody can stop us."

"Hey, Pirelli!." A familiar voice called out to the two. Meghan strolled up to the two with a plate and fork, small crumbs covering them, "Happy Birthday dude! I know we haven't talked much since you've came here but it's nice to see that you're doing okay after those last couple of years of silence. I'm amazed that the agents and spooks had actually managed to catch you in your busy and all over the place schedule."

Luca shrugged as he leaned closer to Grace, "It was my fault but that's in the past. It's time to move on from what has happened before. Now that I think about it since you brought up that, it certainly has been a good while since the last mission we've had, wonder why that is."

The Seal patted him on the shoulder, "I understand you're roaring to go and get back into the fight but it's nice that we haven't had to deal with the terrorist scum. Gives us more time to prepare and train for whatever they have to throw at us. Buts that's not what I came over here for, Lera wanted me to tell you to go drop off your boot in the infirmary. You shouldn't be needing it anymore."

"Thank you Meg, I'll probably go and do that now. I've been waiting to use my own two feet for what feels like forever now."

The blonde girl nodded and waved farewell to the two as she went back to the main group to continue socializing with everyone. Luca scanned through the crowd, eventually finding their two medics. He decided to not bother them and linked his arm with Grace's.

"Too many people here. Plus, I wanna drop the boot off at the infirmary and be home free from that damn thing. We can enjoy each other's company anyways for the rest of the day and just watch TV or something since you installed that TV Miles got me since he thought my birthday was yesterday."

"Sounds good to me, let's go birthday boy"

"Also, I'd like my present once we're back in my room since I'd like to keep it between us even though we seem to be awful at keeping stuff between us secret."

"Are you asking me to get down and dirty with you? You naughty boy, at least take me out first." The Korean girl taunted.

Luca smiled and shook his head, "No, it's not going to be what your little dirty mind is thinking no matter how badly you want it. Maybe as time goes on but not right now."

He dragged her out of the room to the infirmary where he dropped his boot off, not worrying about how he has to walk back to his room barefoot. Grace would occasionally tease him as well as make a couple of remarks about how he was walking on the dirty floor and didn't get to have a nice pair of socks or shoes with him at the time. Luca didn't mind it though since he'd jab his fingers into her gut hard enough for her to bend over, laugh, and push him away before automatically attracting back to his side without hesitation. It was fun for them, it was moments like this that showed that the world was all too bad since the smallest of things was able to remind them about everything good in the world over the rising terrorist threats and looming wars that covered the planet.

By the time the two had reached Luca's room, Grace had been converted into a giggly and childish mess causing the American to have to fold her arms over her chest and use that as extra leverage to keep her steady. He opened the door and brought her in before closing the door behind them using the back off his foot before tossing the Korean girl onto his bed. She quickly put on F is for Family before dragging Luca into the bed next to her before adjusting herself to where her legs rested on top of him and her head resting on his his shoulder. Luca took a deep breath and imagined the entire scenario in his head before finally taking action.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend for my birthday?" He whispered into her ear.

"For only your birthday? You got me excited for a moment."

Luca rolled his eyes and brought the girl closer to him, enough so that his lips could gently graze her ear as he whispered into it. "You know exactly what I mean. And if you don't make your mind up here, you're gonna have to wait until your birthday, and that's not for another three days."

"Hmmmm. Your offering is tempting but not flattering enough."

"It's not an offer, but a gift from you to say yes and to be my girlfriend. I think it would be in both of our best interests since I know you would like to step it up from exploring. I also definitely know that you don't want Emma to get her hands on me before you do. But that choice is up to you my dear. I know how competitive you get in one upping everybody when it comes to me. This will be the best way for you to do that after all because it would mean that I am yours and only yours. You won't have to worry about all the other girls hitting on me, at least to my knowledge. Choose wisely." He said as he nibbled gently on a bit of the bottom portion of her ear.

Grace turned to him with a small and dopey smile on her face. She gave him a quick and unexpected peck on the cheek causing her to giggle when his face flowed a shade of bright red.

"I would love to be your girlfriend but that's not the only gift that you're going to be receiving from me." She replied.

Grace slowly began pushing him onto his back and pinning his arms. She knew he could easily escape has he was easily stronger than her but his curiosity kept him from fighting. She sat herself down on his stomach as she slowly lowered her face to his neck. Her lips peppered the lower portion of his neck. As she slowly made her way up his neck, the kisses had became longer lasting, deeper and more passionate. Her kisses turned into slight sucking by the time she had reached just below his jaw and ear which covered that portion of his neck in her saliva and small yet growing hickeys. Grace's hands moved from his wrists to cupping his face as her face slowly closed the gap between the two, a loving and seductive look gazed into Luca's nervous yet excited eyes. A devious smile appeared on the korean's face as her lips connected in multiple areas around his entire face, making sure that she would be saving the best area for last. In all honesty, she wished that she had lipstick on because it would of meant that she would have fully claimed him as her own but the markings on his neck would be good enough for her for now. With one last kiss to his forehead, she finally moved on to her main goal and connected lips with Luca. The two's lips met together in multiple tender pecks at first but Luca started getting brave as he began poking at her lips requesting entry. Grace allowed him just enough access to where she could bite his tongue down enough to where he can't move it around or retrieve it back unless she said so. She teased his tongue with her own for a couple of seconds as the feeling of Luca's hands made their way to her lower back. Grace decided to stop teasing him as she let their tongues wrestle for dominance using their mouths as a ThunderDome arena. They only backed away from their kiss only to take massive gulps of hair before diving back into their passion filled makeout session. The entire experience was new to Luca, growing up he wasn't exactly the biggest lady's man so never had a girlfriend but he did occasionally have one night stands after his "death" since he would constantly visit bars every night, so they'd skip the foreplay leaving him to have never had a makeout session in his life. As their tongues kept fighting, they didn't notice the fact that Gustave entered the room until he had cleared his throat. The couple's eyes shot open as Grace got up, a thin stretched out strand of saliva still keeping their mouths connected.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted you two on his special day, but I need to make sure the Mr. Pirelli here is actually ready to keep that boot off. If so, then he'll be mission ready. That is until after your birthday. I know that he'd like to spend that day with you before going on to finally do missions."

Luca pushed himself up and brought Grace into a small kiss to get rid of saliva connecting them before scooting her off of his pelvis. "Uhh, yeah Doc. Let us get our shoes on. We'll be down there in a moment."

The Frenchman nodded, "I shall wait for you two outside your door. We can head to the infirmary together from there."

Luca sighed after Doc had left the room. "What a shame, I was really enjoying that."

Grace giggled as she quickly put her high tops back on and handed Luca his shoes in return. "Guess you got more than just one present then for your birthday. Glad you enjoyed it though, makes me more confident and wanting to go out on that date I had talked about for my birthday."

"What? Were you really rethinking us going back to London but for a date this time? I've transferred a good amount of cash to a separate account here in the United Kingdom so we can go do some expensive stuff if you want to. Didn't have time to plan something out for your birthday since I didn't even know it was the close until recently."

"Just wasn't sure if you would have been down for it. Don't seem like the type to actually take a woman out for a date," She replied, wrapping her arms around his torso, "So you can't blame me. You are quite more introverted than I am."

Luca finished putting his shoes on and stood up, being Grace up with him. He quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulder while she was still holding onto him as they made their way outside the room to meet up with Doc. Gustave looked at the couple but kept his mouth shut as he knew that the other operators would do the teasing for him as time went on.

As the three entered the infirmary, Lera walked up to the group and asked "So Doc, I see they weren't as difficult to find."

"Not at all, though I did have to interrupt their little makeout session to get him down here."

Both Luca and Grace's cheeks burnt up at the mention of what Doc has witnessed causing Lera to laugh at the couple's misfortune. "You two are adorable as a couple, don't worry about it. Some operators who you guys aren't as close to somehow haven't realized that you two are dating."

"Uhm, we actually just started dating today, we were just testing the waters at first." Grace mumbled as she looked down at her shoes to hide her face.

"Good because Luca is the only person here I can see you dating. He on the otherwise had a few options but you're the best suited for him if you ask me."

"What does that mean?" Luca asked, crossing his arms, "Grace is the only girl here I'd date. Sure, I spent some time with Emma but we didn't really hit off or anything."

"Then I stand corrected. But that's not why you're here as you know, I just need to check your leg, do some X-Rays and reflex tests just to make sure that you can stay out of that boot of yours." Lera said, motioning for him to follow her.

Luca shrugged but obeyed what she had requested from him leaving only Grace and Gustave in the room. Grace was expecting nothing but awkward silence after she had sat down in one of the waiting area's chairs but Gus had other plans.

"I told him to give you a chance the first day he was here. I'm really happy he did because look at you two now. You guys have really opened each other up and soon enough, you will be able to read each other like a book."

A small and warm smile creeped onto Grace's reddening face knowing that Gustave was sort of the reason the two got together since we pushed Luca, well Ghost at the time, closer to her. "Thank you Gus."

"No, mercí. It was my pleasure."

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **2/02/2019**

 **9:00 AM**

Grace stared at her sleeping boyfriend's face, memorizing every little detail about it as he took calm and steady breaths. She loved everything about him, the way that he'd tease her, how he'd get protective over her over even the tiniest of things, how he acted around others, but most importantly, who he was in general. He was a loving and caring guy who cared for the others himself. Any issues that were going around, he'd be the first to solve them even if it was with an operator he didn't know very well. While he was definitely an introverted character but he was by no means somebody who did anything to avoid a conversation, at least anymore. The old him would have avoided any for of human contact as possible me if it wasn't necessary or forced upon on.

A small gasp released from her which lead to a small adoring smile when Luca has started to stir. He had a habit of squeezing her closer to him anytime he had just woken up and today was no different as he brought her body to his, forcing her face to be just a mere centimeter or two away from his.

He took a deep breath as his eyelids opened to reveal his beautiful green eyes looking into her brown ones. "Good morning Gracie…" He mumbled, yawning halfway through it

"Morning Luca, took you awhile to get up." She said, bringing him into a tight hug.

Using what was free of his arms, he reached behind her and checked the time. The mobile device read out 9:00 AM and had an alert reminding him that it was her birthday. "Get up and get ready to head out. We're going to London like you had requested to. We can find something to do once we get there."

"Alright, but I'm showering first." Grace replied, pulling the covers and blankets off of her. She grabbed some clothing that she had secretly moved from her room to his and took them to the bathroom.

Luca on the other hand, had showered the night before so he put on a new change of clothing which consisted of black skinny jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a black hoodie with the words Red Sun Rising on the back. Knowing that she'd be hungry before their three hour road trip back to London, he left the room and made his way down to Mess Hall to pick up some chow for him and Grace. There were a couple of other operators in there but all of them were either doing their own thing or enjoying a conversation with others. Luca happily picked up two chocolate chip muffins before making his merry way back up to the room after having a small chat with Craig. He bumped the door open knowing he had barely left it open to reveal Grace wearing a pair of black jeans and a regular white tank top with a black jacket next to her.

"Didn't have time to dry your hair?" He asked, setting one of the muffins down on her lap, "It's not everyday you leave your hair damp."

"It's not everyday that I'm absolutely excited for something that I don't perfect something else," She said as she took a bite out of the muffin, "Hurry up and eat. I want to get to London by noon."

"Then let's go." He responded, taking large and quick bites out of the muffin. "We're stopping by the armory first, I want us to have concealed carry."

"That's illegal here in Britain and why?

"Don't trust it. That's why I'm dropping my car at the Ferrari dealership. I know they'll take care of it and I'm not trusting the people of the U.K with it. Plus, the gun is if anything happens like what had happened at the bar. I'm not leaving unprepared ever again. Besides, have fake UN Security IDs that do allow us to carry weapons since I couldn't convince Six to get us legal ones. Now c'mon, I already asked Shuhrat if you could take his PMM and he said he doesn't mind."

Grace shook her head at how defensive Luca wanted to be in a such a giant city like London but she didn't dare disagree with his judgement since she knew he would be one hundred percent down to write an entire essay on why they should within the hour. The two made their way down to the armory and both grabbed their pistols. Luca put his browning in his waist holster while Grace stored the small pistol in her back pocket.

"Are we ready to go now?"

"Yes, we can leave now. We're going to have the time of our lives Gracie."

"Why do you call me Gracie?"

Luca shrugged, "Just thought that it was a cute nickname when I first called you it, so I've sorta just with it since you never pointed it out before until now."

"Good point. Now let's get going! I can't wait to actually go out and explore London for a while. I've only been to some of the small towns nearby. Race you there!" Grace said, taking off to the parking lot where Luca's Viper was parked.

Luca shook his head and chased after her, unlocking his car when he knew he was close enough. By the time he reached the Dodge, Grace was already getting comfy inside of it ready for the three hour drive to London. The man shook his head before hopping into car and starting up it's 8.4L V10.

"Hope you're comfortable. Time to head to London to go and enjoy ourselves for the day."

"Dude, I've been ready for the longest time, I don't think you understand how excited I've been waiting for us to finally get out and go do something. If anything, this will probably be the last day we get to be worry free anyways. Knowing our luck, we'll be going back on missions the moment we get back home."

"Yeah you're probably right when it comes to that. My money is on that Six will call us and three others to a mission as soon as we get back. But let's not worry about that for now. It's your day today and we're going to keep it that way." Luca said, grabbing her hand.

He let go after a few moments due to having to shift using his hand but Grace didn't mind.

* * *

In no time, they were on the motorway heading towards the bustling city of London. The sky was a bright baby blue to much of their surprise, it wasn't England's standard gloomy weather like it had been for ages. The two's morales were significantly higher than what they normally were as they felt a genuine sense of happiness and excitement. For the entirety of the drive, including when they finally made it into London, the two were holding hands but the constant city traffic required Luca to shift a lot more. Ten to twenty minutes passed by but the two had finally made it to the dealership and dropped the yellow and black snake off for the employees to take care of.

"So what's first birthday girl?"

A small smile popped onto Grace's face as she thought about what her answer would be. "I'm hungry again and it is lunchtime after all. What do you think is good here in London?"

"I'm not sure, first time coming here was when we were picking the car up. What do you fancy?"

"Let's go to some Gordon Ramsey restaurant, I've always wanted to go to one of his restaurants."

"Off we go then. There's gotta be one nearby."

* * *

 **2/02/2019**

 **1:30 PM**

"You know, I never knew the British could make such a great burger."

"It's Gordon Ramsay, what were you expecting? He's a world class chef for a reason, he's gotta be good at cooking food from all around the globe to have earned that title after all." Grace said, popping a mint into her mouth. "We've got plenty of places to head to. I think the first thing I want to see is Big Ben. I've seen so many pictures but I haven't seen it in person yet."

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's get moving then!" Luca exclaimed as he grabbed her hands and jogged away, nearly knocking her off her feet before she began running with him.

As Grace and Luca approached the larger crowds, the two slowed to a walk, hand in hand. Time slowed as they enjoyed the sunny weather, the slight breeze, and the sound of overall happiness and amount of content there was rummaging through the city. Joy seemed to be everywhere they looked - probably because it was sunny for once here in England - it was kind of overwhelming since they weren't aware of the potential hazard that the White Masks produce just from only a few of them, maybe many more, being located here in England. Luca would occasionally crack a joke which would cause Grace to giggle and try to keep him as close to her as possible which meant she was grasping his arm so that he couldn't run off. As the two turned a corner, England's prized clock tower came into their view. It's elegance of classic architecture put Grace into awe while to Luca, it was just another giant clock tower with no significance.

"It's a shame that it's not function right now. It's under construction until next year I think." Grace said as she took a picture of the clock on her phone.

Luca watched intently at the base of the tower of Big Ben to witness several white cargo trucks screeched to a stop surrounding the tower, multiple men jumping out of the back armed to the teeth. While some ran to the tower itself carrying something he couldn't quite make out, the rest distracted the population as they began to shoot at anything that moved or breathed. The sounds multiple explosions boomed throughout London's busy streets. Black smoke billowed from the base of the clock tower before the bricks from the lower portions crumbled. Screams, sirens, and gunshots filled the air. Multiple police cars, mainly just Vauxhall Astras, flew by the two towards the base of the tower which had finally begun collapsing, producing a cloud of a mixture of fire and smoke.

Luca motioned for Grace to follow him as he ran up to the nearest police office, "Hey, what the fuck is going on?"

"What do you mean what's happening? Our bloody clock tower just got targeted by the White Mask terrorist you bloody pillock! We don't have the power or finesse to stop them so we've called in allies of the force." The a police officer said."

The American and Korean both reached for their pistols, "We'll handle what we can. We're special forces." Luca said, his face dead and rid of any emotion.

"Sir, I hope yer know that concealed carry is illegal here in the United Kingdom"

Luca rolled his eyes at the cop trying to enforce the gun laws in the time of dire need. "Fuckin pig. You just sit back then, let us professionals do what we do best. Grace, get ahold of Six. Have her deploy backup, we aren't going to be stopping this on our own."

Grace quickly brought up her phone and dialed Six's number. The phone didn't even get to ring before Six answered. "Dokkaebi? Are you and Ghost okay? We've just witnessed Big Ben collapsing and I know you two are in London."

"We're fine Director but we're requesting backup. Big Ben was hit from a terrorist attack by the White Masks. Me and Ghost are armed but only with his Browning and Fuze's PMM."

"Okay, I'm going to dispatch these operators to your location: Jackal, Glaz, Lion, Doc, Thermite, Thatcher, Ash, Jäger, Caviera, and Tachanka. They'll be dropping in within the next 30 minutes. Will you two be able to hold off until then?"

"Only if we avoid conflict but then more civilian casualties will occur."

"Do what you think is best then. You've always had great judgement. I must go now so I can get our Ops notified and ready to be deployed to London."

"Thank you Six," Grace said as she hung up the phone, "Fellow operator's are en route to our location right now. They won't be here for another half an hour through so we're going to have to hunker down or something because I know we both only have a single magazine for our pistols."

"Shit… You're right. I'm totally down for hand to hand combat if you're up for it. I could take a maybe two or three at once."

Grace facepalmed at her boyfriend's stupid idea, "That'll just get us killed. The army has probably already began their response so we could just wait it out until the rest of our group gets here."

"Boring. You do that, I'm going to go see what I can do currently." The man replied, holstering his pistol.

In a matter of seconds, Grace watched as Luca scaled the building next to him in search of a vantage point above the base of the demolished clock tower. She sighed knowing that there was nothing she could do to actually get him to stay put for the time being while the others made their way to their location. Grace made her way up to just behind the the front lines formed by the police which had been fighting the White Masks. They were losing… big time. The London police force has suffered a dramatic amount of casualties within the first couple of minutes into the fight due their lack of guns bigger than just handguns. The White Mask themselves however, they had full on body armor, rifles, SMGs, LMGs, and even some flamethrowers in the mix. The one thing that worried her most though was that their suicide bombers that seemed to be at every location they had been found at previously were missing from here. Grace ignored that and instantly found the Chief of Police to try and figure out what their game plan was.

"We currently have the S.A.S on the way. If we need more than them, the government will be sending special forces to us to help take care of it love. No need to worry."

"I'm not worried, I'm part of special forces and just happened to be here when it occurred. My boyfriend just ran off to see what he can do about this situation because our squad mates will be here within the next half an hour via chopper. Is there anything I can do for you? I only have a single magazine for my friend's pistol which he let me bring since my director didn't want me to bring either of my secondary weapons since they're both fully automatic."

"Go search my police car, there's a shotgun in the trunk and ten extra shells in the glovebox. It's not much since we're at range but it's something."

Grace sighed and turned to leave as a vibration from her pocket caught her attention. She took the device out and saw that out of everybody who could of called her at that very second, it was Luca. "Yes Ghost?"

The sound of three gunshots came through the phone before some deep breaths, "Sorry… He pulled a knife on me. Anyways, I'm… I'm on the rooftops with this guy's SVD Dragunov with plenty of ammunition. I'm gonna start taking shots but I'll have to watch my back. That Mask probably isn't the only one up here."

"Where are you at?" Grace asked, her voice filled with panic, "I know you're fine on your own but give me your location. I'll find my way there."

"Girl, I don't know. Everywhere is just a rooftop to me at the moment. Had to parkour to get here though since the only other way hope around me that I can see is an elevator but there is a ladder on the opposite side I came up. Just stay where you are, it's safer there. Backup will be here soon."

"Ghost!"

"Don't Ghost me Doki, I've got my situation handled. Do what makes you the most comfortable in this situation. Everything helps. I gotta go now, the Masks are advancing to more than just the surrounding area near Ben. Love you." Ghost said, his voice seemingly alerted and quick on his words.

"Love you too…" She mumbled, hanging up the phone…"

Her call apparently lasted a few minutes because the police chief had the loaded shotgun and the the spare shells in his hands. He handed the shells to Dokkaebi who resorted to just putting the shells in her waist band due to the lack of storage in this outfit and graciously accepted the Remington 870.

She quickly ran up to the front lines and took cover behind a bullet riddled van next to two police officers with only pistols. One gave her a questionable look but didn't say anything while the other scratched his head. "Ma'am, this isn't a matter for civilians."

"I've already spoken to your superior about what I am. I'm more qualified than you are for combat against terrorism."

* * *

 **London, England**

 **2/02/2019**

 **2:15 PM**

"When was the last time anybody has checked into Dokkaebi and Ghost? They're down there right now." Thermite asked, preparing to rappel from his squad's chopper.

"Not sure mate. We're dropping at their last known location from when they had called Six. They could be anywhere in this bloody place." Thatcher replied from his own chopper.

Thermite finished his gear and sat down on an open spot on the bench, his head buried in his hands. He knew his squad mates were some of the best but in something like this, the only areas of cover were inside and he knew they weren't going to cause property damage just to have an area they may or may not work. The warmth of somebody else's hand oh his shoulder caused him to look up at whoever it had been.

"Mi camarada, what is wrong? You seem stressed." Jackal said, sitting down next to the American.

Thermite just shook my head, "I'm just worried, nothing is wrong. Just got to hope that Ghost and Dokkaebi are doing fine because we lost contact with them what felt to be ages ago. They are normally under my command after all."

"Mi amigo, they're going to be fine. They're probably looking out for each other right now as we speak or even making their way to us right now."

"Plus Ghost has been in many situations like this. He could easily watch over Dokkaebi because he'd probably kill whoever touches her in the most brutal way possible from what I know."

"I don't know much about those two, but those kids seem tough." Lion said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Lion! Don't speak if you have nothing good to say." Doc grumbled.

"It was good! It was basically saying that I don't know if anything about them but I trust they will be doing fine by the time we get down there. Now if you could leave me the hell alone old man, that would be a blessing and a half."

"Both of you little girls shut the fuck up. We're dropping soon and I don't want your little rivalry to get in the way of what matters the most." Thermite said as he stood and opened one of the helicopter's door. He attached his specialized carabiner to the chopper's rails and gave it a tug to make sure it was sturdy. He gave orders for his squad to do the same, 3 on each side and checked in with Thatcher and his squad to make sure they had done the same.

The sound of the radio buzzed overhead before the voice of their pilot came through. "Get ready to rappel in 60. Those Masks are taking potshots at us and we need to get you guys in and moving along to take care of these threats. I'm going to be refueling at London's airport and will be ready to pick everybody up, just give me the signal when."

Everybody followed his advice and joined in what Thermite had done, position themselves to drop. Seconds had slowed down, the adrenaline pumped through everybody's bloodstreams. "3...2...1…"

Everybody kept backwards off the chopper's rails as they glided down into the middle of the street, just behind bullet riddled police cars. The White Masks littered the surrounding area and there was a firefight between what sounded like a sniper rifle, and a group of White Masks that had been using concrete walls and statues for cover.

"Glaz, to the rooftops. We'll be down here. Our objective is to clear this side of the clock tower while Thatcher's team gets the remaining side. Once our sector is clear, we help Bravo Squad with their side. After this whole fuckfest is over, we will look for our two comrades."

Glaz nodded and put his sniper on his back and ran to the nearest building to rappel up leaving his four remaining squad mates to watch their own backs until he was in a good position. "My drone has just been deployed from under the copter, I can scan everybody and learn locations."

"That's too obvious Lion," Doc said with a roll of his eyes, "They'd probably shoot the thing down anyways"

"Do it." Thermite said, his voice dead and monotone.

"What?"

"I said do it Lion. Doc, it's the only option that we've got. It doesn't only help us though, it'll benefit Bravo Squad as well."

Doc glared at Lion as he commenced a drone scan. The ground began to shake prompting everybody to flip down their visors to see about five or six dozen white masks including three that seemed to be sneaking up on something somewhere on the rooftops opposite of Glaz. Off at the base on the demolition, three of the red glowing bodies dropped dead from three shots of what sounded like some form a semi automatic sniper. Thermite and Jackal glanced at each other before briefly nodding.

"This way, let's figure out who this sniper is. Stick to the walls, let the shadows hide us slightly." Jackal commanded.

Doc and Lion hesitated but they followed the other two operators. "Glaz, are we in your sight?"

"Da, I will be sure to let you know if any hostile spot you and are nearby. Something seems to be above you on the rooftops approximately 10 yards ahead. Some sort of tussle. Three White Masks are fighting somebody."

Before anybody could reply or move up, a limp body of a White Mask fell from above, a Dragunov next to him as well as a blade stuck in his jugular. Thermite flicked his gun's sight to the roof. Above him was what appeared to be a struggling Ghost with a knife being held against his throat by one of the two Masks trying to force him off the building. Not caring about their hiding spot be given away, he took a single shot at the only visible terrorist of the two, dropping him easily.

Ghost took the short burst of time he had while his attacker was stunned and threw a punch straight into his Adams Apple. Violent coughing ejected from the pan as he forced himself off of the operator. Ghost scrambled to his feet and grabbed ahold of the man's hair. He yanked the Mask to his feet and looked the man in the eyes, an evil expression visible for anyone and everyone to see. Ghost still holding the man by the hair, began punching the terrorist as hard as he could, speaking in between each punch. "Who! The! Fuck! Do! You! Think! You! Are!? I'm! Going! To! Kill! You! All!"

Ghost took one final look at the bloody, battered up man before spitting on his face and grabbing him by the shirt. "I will go after your family next." He whispered into the terrorist's ear just seconds before throwing him off the edge head first.

After a single, much needed deep breath, Ghost walked to the edge to see four of his fellow operators. "Don't worry about me! I'm okay! Go find Grace! Last time I saw her, she was at a police line on the other side. Do me a favor, make sure she is safe and keep her from the fight. She doesn't have any of her armor. Now go! I have something important to do before I come back here."

"Ghost! We were ordered to extract you and Dokkaebi. You can't leave!" Thermite shouted.

"I'm going whether you like it or not. I'll be back sometime today. Just know I'm doing my part against the White Masks." And with that, Ghost's footsteps could be heard sprinting away on the concrete rooftop.

"You're just letting Ghost go? We must extract him." Glaz said as he watched Ghost jump, climb, and run over the rooftops.

"He has something planned. Just let him go for now, we need to find Dokkaebi, whether it's us or Bravo Team that makes it to her first."

* * *

 **This chapter clukd have easily made it to 10k+ words but I didn't want you guys to have to wait longer than the schedule I plan on following meaning my deadline was tomorrow. I promise to start the next chapter tomorrow. The only issue is that I'm going to be job hunting for the next week or two so I am not certain how long thag chapter is going to be. However, I will be adding in three new character that have been announced. Harry, Mozzie, and Gridlock will all be introduced somewhere in the next chapter. I just have to figure out where. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated!**


	7. Find Themselves Together Again

**Time for me to continue what I had started last chapter starting where I left off. Well, sort of. It'll start off where I had left off, just not from Alpha Squad's perspective. We're going to be hanging out with Bravo Squad now for a little bit until later on. No clue how long this chapter is going to be but I have a lot of different things planned so I hope this chapter is up to your expectations.**

 **There is a pretty decent chance though that this one is going to be a big one most likely because there is so much I want to get done and put in this chapter. I have approximately a little less than two weeks to get it done. As much as I'd like to update this story twice a month, I do not write consistently enough or have the will to right 10-20k words a month like when this first came out. Mainly because these chapters are longer than the first two were but nobody seems to mind which is nice.**

 **Feel free to leave a review, everything and anything said is appreciated. I hope you all enjoy, Ciao!**

* * *

 **London, England**

 **2/02/2019**

 **2:25 PM**

"Bravo Team, we have located Ghost. He refused to be extracted though, he said he had a job to finish after we witnessed him kill multiple White Masks." Thermite said through comms.

"He's fookin hiding something. Least he seems to be on our side still. Did he say anything about Dokkaebi's last known location? We didn't see any outline that looked like hers." Thatcher said as his squad

"He said she was at a police line on your side somewhere and knowing Dokkaebi, she's probably somewhere around here. After all, you're the hammer and she's the scalpel if I'm quoting that right."

"Wot the fuck ever. That doesn't matter currently. We need to find her ASAP. After we find her, we will have a better chance of getting Ghost because he'll always talk and answer to her. Gotta find out where that boy is going since he probably won't speak about whatever is going on in that head of his to us."

Ash walked up to Thatcher and gave him the British man a pat on the back knowing he'd be on the radio with her boyfriend for ages trying to get his way with the plan. Thatcher turned and looked her way through his gas mask, a scowl obviously covering his face. "Thatcher, just go with the plan. We need to find our remaining operator while we deal with the White Masks," She said just as gunfire erupted from the from two different areas nearby, "The firefight away from the base of Big Ben has to be either Ghost or Dokkaebi. I'd say me and Cav go check the out because Alpha Squad is going to need you three's help. You're some of the most deadliest operators Rainbow has. Plus me and Caveira can sneak into that other gun fight and find people as well as interrogate whomever we find."

Thatcher shook his head and turned his gun's safety off. Without a word, he motioned for Jäger and Tachanka who had his LMG unmounted and loaded, ready to turn anything that got in his way to dust. The two glanced at each other and shrugged before following their leader to advance past the bullet riddle Vauxhalls.

"Guess that leaves you and me Caveira, let's go see what the White Masks are up to in this neck of the woods."

"It probably came from this that market area," Cav said, pointing out what looked to be a small area for shopping.

From the looks of it, the place had been filled with the bodies of White Masks, Policemen, and even civilians from what they were able to see from the exterior. The two creeped towards where the gunfire had once came from and looked into the empty market. The bodies were many and plentiful, some even forming small piles on top of each other. The blood that soaked the ground and stained everything around the was fresh and happened to still be dripping down walls and leave footprints anywhere that hasn't been spoiled yet. It saddened Ash knowing that what was probably hundreds of civilians and a few dozen police officers had to face death in this attack. What got the Israeli's head moving however was that there were many dead White Masks that covered the area. The deeper her and Cav got into the market, the warmer the terrorists' bodies got. Somebody had to still be either alive and still fighting, or they had finally perished after a long, struggle filled battle for their life. The sound of a single shotgun shot went off followed by a feminine voice shouting swears from around a the corner into an alleyway. Ash and Cav looked at each other filled with alarm and drew their weapons as they stalked to where the blast and scream had radiated from. Buildings loomed and towered over the area which blackened the area between them at the end of the darkness was the light. Within it, four people standing around a somebody else who had been in a fighting stance. Ash signaled for Cav to circle around to cover more area before she herself began to push up. She felt like she was one with the shadows, an assassin in the cloaked by the night as a brawl began broke out between the four who she assumed to be terrorist and what looked to be a girl fending off her assailants.

Ash's heart pounded and begged for Ash to do something about it but it was too dangerous until Cavi was set up and ready for their ambush. "Come on Taina… Hurry up and get into position… I really don't want to fucking have a civilian die because we couldn't move fast enough." She thought as she witnessed her force two the the men's heads together followed by kicking one of the Masks away before being tackled to the ground. Ash sighed as she took her M120 CREM from the loop that held it against her back and aimed it at some rubble from a nearby building that had collapsed to cause a distraction and buy that woman some time. The explosion that followed the shot shook the bricks and concrete they stood on, shooting the four terrorists' attention to the blast's location giving the woman enough time to throw a punch at her attacker's jaw and get up.

"Enough playing then bitch. If you won't be our bitch alive, you're going to do it dead." The biggest one who had just been kicked off the girl said, pulling out what looking to be some smaller type of pistol with a Russian flag, "You have made a grave mistake darling. It's a shame too, you would have made a fine woman if you had only listened rather than try and stand up for yourself."

The sound of the hammer clicking into position echoed throughout the small grotto as he pointed the pistol at her forehead. Before Ash could swap to either of her firearms, somebody rushed into the scene from the side Cav was moving to and grabbed the gun from his hand and put a bullet to the man's kneecap and dumped the magazine and gun itself. Taking this opportunity, Ash quickly grabbed her sidearm and pushed towards the group. "All of you, hands up now."

The White Masks refused to turn but they didn't retaliate since they were unarmed. The two civilians however turned to Ash revealing their identities, the two missing operators. Dokkaebi's face lit up as she scooped up the gun she borrowed from Fuze. "Ash! Where's everybody else?"

"That doesn't matter right now, we have to extract you and Ghost then deal with the rest of the White Masks. I don't think you've noticed as you've been having your own commotion, but the rest of my squad excluding Cav who is somewhere nearby and Alpha Squad are currently out there trying to massacre those at the roots of the attack. Once we get you and your boyfriend out of here, we have a job to finished."

"I'm not leaving until I know every Mask here is dead or in custody." Ghost said as he flipped a well worn AK-47 off his back and pointed it at the three standing terrorists. "This is a warning for you three fucks that I won't tolerate your shit." He said as and shot a single bullet through their already downed comrade's head.

"It's official orders of Six. If you and Dokkaebi don't leave London and go back to base, there's going to be consequences for insubordination. I don't think you want to experience that."

"No fun, looks like I missed the party you three had with these four filhos da putas." A Brazilian accent said from behind the two newly found operators. "Girl, I had to help a few civilians get to safety because I ended up having to take down a couple of Masks along the way and interrogate one to see what he knew. Nothing of use except for a weapons stash which I've already notified the S.A.S of so they've got that covered."

"Look both of you," Ghost said, making sure he had both Caveira and Ash's attention, "I'm not leaving without my car. I'd prefer to take me and Doki back to base with that even if it takes longer. I'd rather go back with her to ensure her safety, but I refuse to take a chopper."

"I'd prefer to take the Chopper but I refuse to leave Ghost." Dokkaebi added, grabbing his free arm.

Caveira shook her head as she tried to hide her smile, "I'll report back to Six since Ash is more of a rule follower for you two lovebirds. Now get out of here and make sure your ride is safe and sound. It isn't safe."

Ghost nodded and grabbed Dokkaebi's hand, taking off before the girl could react to the fact that they were leaving London.

Without looking back to see the couple making a run to the Ferrari Dealership, Ash stared at her partner in crime, "So Miss Rule Breaker, what shall we do with these three?"

"Hmmm…" Cav replied as she slowly strides towards the the terrorist's slowly pulling Lusion from it's holster, "I say we have a little bit of fun with them. Let's see what they know in the process of this entire fuckfest."

"Fine by me. Just put a bullet in one of their knees each. We can go off of our own judgement later on in our little interrogation. For now though, we can play nice with these fucks."

* * *

"Thatcher, throw an EMP at that truck! Glaz is saying that truck is laced with explosives and that he had wiped the man with the detonator. As much as I'd love to see that thing blow, there is a time and place for everything."

"No need to bloody monologue lad, all you have to tell me is to throw the damned EMP somewhere to disable all their electrical garbage."

Thermite rolled his eyes at his comrade's smartass response, "Lion. Use your remaining drone scan. We've cleared out half of the site we've still got the other side of Ben as well as the outskirts which I'm sure Ghost, Dokkaebi, Ash, and Caveira have been clearing out while doing their own things."

"Hope you made it count, this is all this puppy has got left until I land the thing. Big Brother coming in for overview."

An abundance of red outlines filled the area that lied ahead of the group but most of them seemed to be lightweight grunts at best. From Glaz's perspective, most of them carried submachine guns and shotguns with only a couple of the what were probably higher ranks carrying assault rifles that looked like they had seen their fair share of combat in previous eras. While Glaz went from rooftop to rooftop trying to reposition himself to where he could see the entire south side of the collapsed clock tower, his squads mates were coming up with a plan.

"I zhink zhat ve should push zhem back into a smaller area sort of like a final stand. Due to zhere being a total of eight of us, ve could go four and four. One group to zhe west side and zhe other to zhe east. Ve'll end up cornering zhem on zhe final side zhat neither squad has been to."

"I support the German. After all, they had to defend themselves on both the Eastern and Western fronts at one point." Tachanka joked, laughing at himself.

"How shall we split us up then? One of us is going to have to be a group of three since Glaz is up on the rooftops picking them off." Lion said, leaning on his V308.

"Jäger and Lion, you two come with me," Thermite said as he turned his comms on, "Glaz, requesting covering fire for me, Lion, and Jäger. We're only a group of three as Thatcher, Doc, Tachanka, and Jackal are going to be the other squad."

"Da, got it. Which side will you be attacking from?"

Thermite had a short and snappy discussion with his fellow operators about who is going where on this ambush before giving the Russian an answer. "West side, it's a shorter route for you to get over to if you aren't already in the location."

"I'm nearly there, just start moving up and I can provide you cover in a minute or so. I've only seen a single White Mask up here but he's long gone now. Anyways, you see that toy store with the block and ball as a sign? I'll perch there so I can stay out of sight from most, if not all of the hostile."

"Roger that," Thermite said as he looked towards his fellow operators who were patiently awaiting for orders. "Okay, we know our squads, it's time to move out. After every single Mask is taken out, we'll run into each other on the south side. Thatcher, get ahold of Ash and Cav before you move up. Our squad will get going now."

With Thermite's squad moving up in the fight, Thatcher quickly radioed up his two female squad mates. "What's up old man?"

"Where are you two at? We're about to start clearing up the center."

"We just finished interrogating three separate Masks. We also tried extracting both Dokkaebi and Ghost but they refused so they're heading back to base in his car since he refuses to leave it here."

"Any information?"

"Nothing new. Caveira got the location of an Arsenal from a different guy earlier and has already dispatched some S.A.S members to that location. Where do you want us?"

"Just sweep around the the outskirts of our location. Be merciless and kill them all those bastards…"

"Don't hesitate? Sounds good. Where shall we meet up with the rest of the group?"

"South entrance. Alpha Squad will also be there."

"See you there then old man."

Thatcher sighed as he stood up and readied himself to fight the remaining terrorists that stood up against him to carry on their reign of chaos.

Meanwhile on Thermite's end, he was preparing his team to fight with brute force and without care for their surroundings above. "Everything here is already fucked anyways, the only thing left standing besides the surrounding area our us and these goddamned terrorist so it's time to ring some ears and kick ass."

"You Americans really got hardcore after World War Two…" Jäger mumbled as he checked the bullets in his 416-C Carbine's magazine.

Thermite's eyes rolled at his German comrade's remark. Before moving up completely and getting his squad into a firefight, a threw a recon drone down to spot out the severity of the potential threats. Closest to them seemed to just be scouts armed with nothing more than handguns, a few Mac-11s, even a couple of Sawed-Off Double Barrels. The one thing they all had in common though was a lack of armor. They all had vests on but they seem thin and only meant to defend them from 9mm and smaller bullets from penetrating. They did have alright cover though, they had one of the now empty trucks, a few sandbag walls, and even some makeshift walls from the surviving portions of what was left of London's very own Big Ben.

"Glaz." He said, waiting for confirmation that his final squad member was in place.

"I'm ready. What do you need of me?"

"Take the first shot on whoever you feel we would need to worry about the most."

No response came through the radio. Thermite peeked over the concrete wall his team was behind to see a nearby Mask with a shotgun drop dead as Glaz's shot went through his head as if it were jello. In that split second where they were all distracted by where the shot had came from, Thermite pulled the pin on a flash bang and chucked it into one of the groups. As soon as the sound of the canister popping was heard, the three operators popped up and began to take down as many of the blinded terrorists as they could before having to duck down due to returning fire.

"Placing an ADS, you can stop worrying about grenades now." Jäger said, taking one of his Magpies off of his back and placing on the ground a few feet behind them.

Each operator would pop out for a couple of seconds to try and pick off someone. Glaz meanwhile would take continuous and calculated shots. Everybody he hit was either killed on the spot or severely injured. Their fight wasn't the only one happening at the moment as shots could be heard from the opposite side of the destroyed clocktower as well as it's outskirts.

Thermite took a peek at his drone to see if any of the Masks that were further back would move up but to much of his surprise, some of the surviving White Mask grunts fell back to help their more armed comrades build small forts and defensive areas that would let them fight harder and longer.

Those who were still on the front lines were either injured, fighting till their last breath, or trying to get the injured to safety. Their numbers were dwindling each minute as the three operators and their sniper suppressed the living's lives, forcing them to the grave.

"Do a quick ammunition check before moving up. Finish the final couple of these men off with your sidearms or knives to conserve what you have for your primaries." Glaz said as looked over the battlefield, scanning over what he could of Bravo Squad's side of battle. Nothing of interest or of any sort of difficulty could be spotted.

"We clear to move up? Lion and Jäger both have their pistols out to execute those who are still standing or are currently bleeding out. Where's the best place to take cover?"

"I'd advise for Lion to stay back and pick off what he can before moving up as there is only a limited amount of space. Thermite, move up to behind that pile of debris."

"Got it, what about Jäger?"

"The German can move up to behind that truck. Make sure you stay behind the wheel though, your legs can be seen anywhere else on the vehicle."

"Ja, I know. I am not stupid, going to be bringing my ADS up vith me, don't vant to risk something blowing me and zhis lorry up during our shootout." Jäger replied as he picked up the anti-nade device before sliding it under the truck so that anything thrown or shot out of his view could get destroyed.

Well, the first two devices at least. The German had only brought six shots with him so he had to make each of them count. With some sort of explosive protection in place next to something where he'd be in cover at, Jäger being one of the fastest operators Rainbow had to offer sprinted behind the vehicle with some of the White Masks taking just random potshots his way. Thermite had an easier time getting into his position as all he had to do was just jog 60 or so feet leaving Lion in the back as he was the only one of the three operators who actually brought an Acog to the fight.

Glaz watched overhead as the three operators slowly progressed their ways up, picking people off where he could in between mass amounts of gunfire to mask his location. Whenever much wasn't happening with the group he'd connect to the same comms station as Thatcher's group to give them what information he could send their way from the lack of overview on their side of the battlefield.

"Moving up, covering fire requested." Lion said, emptying his last few shots in the drum at a few of the White Masks who were returning fire without paying attention to where they were shooting or to where their bullets were landing.

Jäger and Thermite poked their heads and guns out from their cover. Bullets pelted both the truck and mix of cast iron, stone, and granite rubble that made up a giant chunk of the square. As Lion passed by, he noticed a White Mask that had been using the same piece of destroyed tower as cover and quickly pulled his .357 Revolver out and pointed it at the man. Just as his finger pulled the trigger, all he could see was gear and terror in the terrorist's eyes. It was as if at that very moment, the terrorist wasn't just another bad guy seeking to avenge the world for something that had never happened. Those thoughts of there being some humanity left over inside those heads of theirs quickly diminished as the bullet wrung through the man's skull, ending its run into the granite behind him with blood, brains, and tiny fragments of bone decorating the decent sized dent it made.

* * *

 **2:45 PM**

Ash and Caveira split up to circle to exterior portion of the objective to cover more of the area quicker. The Israeli wasn't sure how many terrorists her comrade had found but she hadn't found a thing. The sound of Britain's miniature war against terrorism could probably be heard for miles. What amazed Ash the most however, was the lack of training given to the lower tier members of the White Mask Terrorist organization. She strolled through the outskirts, bored as hell to the point of where any time she saw something like a rat or a bird, she'd take a couple of shots at it to see if they'd land. It was this very moment where she felt like this was the calm before her own personal storm.

"Ash, come in! Call in our evacuation chopper. We have nearly cleared out the remaining White Masks and we have the S.A.S on their way to clean up the scene once every last one of the bloody bastards are fooking six feet under. I've checked in with Cav and she's killed two or three scramblers that were too scared to fight. How many have your gotten love?" Thatcher's voice spoke into her ear.

"Nobody actually. I've seen civilians hunched over the fallen who had bled out trying to escape but no hostile have been spotted. Where should I command the LZ to be at?"

"We have clearance to land near the Houses of Parliament, it's East of our location once we finish our job. After getting our ride here, check in with Ghost and Dokkaebi. We need to guarantee that they are safe and out of harm's way."

"Roger, get the job done while I do those. Do me a favor and check in to make sure Thermite is okay as well please."

A small laugh came from Thatcher, "Alright lass, I'll be sure to do that. Thatcher out."

Ash didn't even hesitate as she quickly swapped communication system signals to speak with the pilot, "Kilo Alpha Charlie Kilo Echo, requesting an evacuee, what is your status?"

"Alpha Sierra Hotel, Mothership has just lifted 5 minutes ago and is currently heading your way. Requesting an LZ location."

"You have received clearance to land at the Houses of Parliament. You will be picking up the operators brought here, the two priority targets we were supposed to extract have chosen to leave the city together and head back to base their own way. I'll be checking their status soon."

"Roger dodger, I'll be at the LZ in 10. Kacke over and out."

Knowing that Ghost and Dokkaebi didn't have any type of radio on them, she pulled out her phone and quickly pulled up Dokkaebi's number. The phone rang for fifteen or so seconds before picking pick up.

"Hello?" The familiar Korean voice said.

"Dokkaebi, have you and Ghost made it out of London unharmed?"

A sigh came through the phone, "Yeah we made it out alive. Some White Masks thought that they had made a daring escape and we got into a bit of a tussle. Ghost got a few minor cuts and one of the blades grazed his face which is probably going to end up leaving a gnarly scar."

"How deep is it? We need Lera to treat him as soon as possible!"

"Ash don't worry please. He's fine and his wounds aren't fatal. Hell, the man refused to get into his car until the wounds all stopped bleeding as well as taking off his shirt and leaving it on the ground since it was covered in our attacker's blood since Ghost May have killed them extremely brutally and with mercy. You know, stealing the knife back, gouged one's eyes out, slit one's throat then repeatedly stabbed his throat, stab~~"

"Okay okay okay, I get it. You guys are fine and your boyfriend got nicked by a knife a couple of times. Just get make sure you get him checked out when you guys get back. I have to go now, we're nearly done here are our extraction chopper is on the way."

"Okie dokie, see you once we get back to base Ash."

"Yeah, bye Doki." Ash said, hanging up her phone and putting it back into her pocket.

London's small war slowly started to get quieter and quieter as Masks dropped dead in their fight against the rainbow operators. She slowly progressed to the center where both Alpha and Bravo squads could be seen either executing the badly injured and patching up those who could be saved and questioned later on.

"So… Is that it? Are we done here people?" Ash asked.

"Yes we are my beautiful lady," Thermite said, removing his goggles and helmet, "The S.A.S, coroners, and some other people are coming to clear out the debris and corpses. We'll have a death report within the next 48 hours as well as assessing the cost of all the damage that has been dealt covering this entire area of London and some of the surroundings."

"That armory has been raided and looted by the S.A.S. They didn't have anything to impressive but there were lots of drugs, cash, firearms, and armor. To much of not only their own, but even our surprise, they had no trace of explosives in the area." Thatcher added as he took the dust covered gas mask off.

A whistle came from behind Ash revealing Cav who was dragging what looked to be an unconscious Mask behind her to the group. "Don't worry amigos, I got myself the one and only lieutenant that was apart of this attack." The Brazilian woman dropped the man's collar and left his tied up body to be collected by the police force before being sent to Hereford to get interrogated by the experts consisting of Caveira, Ghost, Ela, and Twitch. The group made their way to where the single Chinook helicopter had landed and all piled in, the two squads sitting on different sides according to their original squad at the beginning of the mission.

"You know, I should have mentioned this when I first brought that man to the wreckage but that lieutenant had these on him." Cav said, pulling a file out from under her chest piece before handing them over to Thermite, "I went over them slightly and it was their entire plan. Apparently they were suppose to rig the nearby streets with explosives as well but the police responded faster than they had expected."

Thermite scanned through the documents, every minor detail down to the specific coordinates. Hundreds of names were listed on a separate sheet of paper, every person had a specific jobs provided as well as all their personal information. "We're going to have to take this to Six you guys know. This is probably going to end up getting classified anyways because there are names of men that we know hasn't shown up. There had only been maybe 75 or so people at this attack. The rest could of been potential inside men that gave way for the White Masks to have actually managed to get those bombs in place."

"They are a world wide terrorist organization, they've probably got a good amount of funding and can obtain followers or members with easy. People nowadays aren't as smart as they use to be and will mindlessly follow whatever sounds educated to them." Jackal commented.

Tachanka laughed as he pulled his helmet off, "And they thought our generation bad, the people today are delusional and believe whatever comes from others mouth."

"That may be so but that should be the scary part. While yes, we're the best trained men and women on the goddamned planet but take a look so World War 2 for example. Fuckin Germany was a powerhouse in of its own but one of the reasons that Nazi Germany had fallen was because the Russians had overwhelmed them with their sheer numbers. I'd love to use a better analogy rather than one of the most tragic wars in history but that was the first thing that had came to my mind. We're going to need more than just us, we need a backup plan or a group lower than us that are separate from all military, police, or secret service groups. We're gonna eventually get our asses handed to us one of these days and we'll all perish for it."

"Jordan, calm down please," Eliza demanded, "Trust me. Everything is going to be fine. Remember Operation Chimera? How we had to fight and quarantine that entire area to kill the alien fucks? None of us expected to make it out alive. We thought that there'd be too many of them which in reality, there were a shit ton, but we held our ground and completed all objectives. So please get that worry from your head, we'll talk to Six, then we can relax. Nothing too fancy, nothing to sophisticated. Just enjoy the ride until we do eventually get home."

* * *

 **5:40 PM**

The entire car ride back home was dead silent not including when Grace had gotten a call from Eliza to check on the couple's status. Luca wasn't fully sure why he was so silent during this time but he knew exactly why she refused to talk. Not only did a major terrorist attack happen just streets away from her, but it had occurred on her boyfriend causing her boyfriend to leave her to go and play the hero so he could try to prevent anymore civilian casualties which nearly costed him her life if he wasn't nearby ready to swoop in and 'save the day.' Every couple of miles or so, he'd look her direction to see her looking out window, her face covered in sadness and despair, was killing Luca.

"When we get back to base, would you like some alone time?" Luca mumbled just loud enough for her to hear, refusing to let his eyes wonder from the road ahead.

"Hm? Why would I want alone time?"

"Because you nearly died because of my actions. It would have been all my fuckin fault. If I hadn't left you alone in the hands of the local police to go off and kill as many of those damn White Masks, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere near dying. I was blinded by vengeance and I let it control me."

Grace shook her head, "You're fine. Though I'm disappointed in your decisions, that's not what's going through my mind. It's how the White Masks had launched a major terrorist attack right under our nose while we were on our date for my birthday. It feels awful knowing that's hundreds, probably even thousands of innocent people were slaughtered today. We're supposed to be able to predict and stop that type of activity being an anti-terrorism spec ops group, there should have been some sort of lead somewhere."

"They did a good job covering up all trails Grace, we couldn't have done anything to prevent what happened today." Luca said as he began to speed up to get the two home within the next fifteen or twenty minutes, "I really wish I could have done more but I did everything I could. I managed to free all the hostages I found and saved who I could before they were executed…"

The car had just began to ease back into it's quiet mourning atmosphere as the infotainment system signaled a phone call from Jordan as well as a quieter version of Luca's ringtone going off. With a sign, Luca answered the call. "Hey Luca, I have some stuff to let you know since I know you and Grace will be arriving soon."

"Not the best of time but let me hear it."

"There's going to be a meeting tomorrow morning, 0800 sharp. Apparently we're recruited two newbies from the land down under and my money is saying that at least one of their gadgets are going to be a kangaroo, spider, or snake knowing those Aussies. We… Well, everybody that had been invited to Rainbow after the original group had been made are going to meet somebody that use to frequent this base and had became a permanent member of the Rainbow Six family. Anyways, that's just what's happening tomorrow buddy. Today, you've got to meet the hostage that we've brought in to see what he knows. Good ol' Taina got her grubby little hands on the only lieutenant present at this attack as well as files that we'll have Grace dive into and check around online as well as the backgrounds of every listed found not to be present at Ground Zero. Sound good to you two?"

"I guess." Grace said as she readjusted in her seat.

"Uhm, sure thing. Your girlfriend Mrs. Trace, wanted me to go see Lera and Gustave first though. Landed myself a few slashes in a knife fight where I forgot my knife."

Thermite could be heard groaning through the car's speakers, "Did you get stabbed again and are bleeding out?"

"Man, fuck you. I'm fine. I refused to get in my car until the bleeding had stopped and I even left my shirt in London since it was covered in dried blood. At least all the blood on my pants at face up and not to where I'd be sitting on em."

"Awe, poor Ghost refusing to get his car a little bloody."

"Because my car is worth around four times more than yours and I take great care of it."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Anyways, peace out dude. Eliza is calling my name."

"Whatever you say fuckboy, see you back at base."

With a click, the call had ended. Luca sighed in relief and down shifted to accelerate from the 70 mile an hour speed limit up to triple digits where he began to cruise at. He wanted nothing more than to beat the living shit out of the White Mask's lieutenant for the living hell him and his men had created world wide. Plots of all the ways to get the man to talk began to form in his mind as the use of other operators' help would greatly to inflict the most amount of pain on the man as possible without killing him or scouring the world for a Bullet Ant.

"Whatever crazy ass ideas you're coming up with, I'd suggest not doing," Grace said, shooting a concerned look his way, "After seeing the damage of what you have caused today, I'm not sure you'd worry about keeping that hostage alive long enough to get a peep out of him. After we get home, we're stopping at the infirmary than heading back to your room. I refuse to do anything else until we're both in the right state of mind and aren't pushing forward based on what we feel is the right thing to do"

"I guess."

~~~ _20 Minutes Later~~~_

"Knock knock, your favorite patient has arrived to prove that he is fine and that thou wounds are just minor flesh wounds that won't require any stitches of bandages." Luca said, knocking on the door frame as he walked it to catch somebody's attention.

Lera looked up from the paperwork causing one of her eyebrows to raise in curiosity. She quickly stood and made her way to Luca and Grace to study all the different cuts on his body. "For the most part, a good three fourths of these I'd say are just minor grazes and can be left alone. For that remaining one fourth, they're all just going to leave some scars. Especially the one on your face, you're going to end up looking like me, Scarface."

"Except mine wasn't caused by a fellow Rainbow operator." Luca joked, "Got mine because I'm a dumbass for not taking Grace and leaving London after requesting some of the operators."

"You're a fighter, you and Ela would get along well since I know you two don't talk much. Both of you live and strive in chaos."

Luca chuckled, "Chaos in my home. I own that shit."

Lera moves on to Grace who was hiding behind her boyfriend, keeping a firm grip onto his hand as she stared at the floor. "Grace, did you receive any injuries that I should be aware of?"

"No Ma'am, I'm unharmed because every time I was shoved into a predicament, Luca was there to help me with my foes."

Lers gave the couple a warm smile followed by a nod, "Then why are you guys here? Neither of you need any medical attention." Before either of the two explain why they had showed up, the Russian woman waved them off. "You guys are fine. Go do your own thing for the rest of the day. The meeting we shall be having is tomorrow morning."

"Yes, we know. Thank you though, we will probably be seeing you tomorrow then. Bye Lera."

"Buh Bye you two."

The couple quickly made their way to the armory to drop off their pistols and the Remington shotgun Grace had kept that she received from the police before heading back to Grace's room for a change instead of Luca's. He had ever actually been in her room in his life so he was amazed when her room was a beauty baby blue, had a massive Samsung flat screen on her wall, a love seat, and a bed filled with many different stuffed animals and plushies of Pokémon, especially Mudkips.

"Never knew you were a Pokémon fan."

Grace picked up one of her Mudkip plushies and stared it down before pulling it into a hug. "Pokémon was my childhood. How could I not love it?"

"I support Mudkip since that was my Hoenn starter back in like 2000 something growing up. I've played every game since originally playing Red but my all time favorite game is Platinum and my favorite Pokémon is Umbreon."

"You're a bigger fan than I was then," She said, sitting down in her loveseat and turning the tv on, "I only played up to Emerald and absolutely fell in love with Mudkip. Just look at these cheeks!"

Luca chuckled and sat down in the smaller space next to her before adjusting Grace to where she was sitting on his lap and laying against the cushioned armrests. "I know exactly what I need to get you now to make up for what has happened today."

"Thank you…" Grace mumbled, slightly rubbing her head against his neck. "Today started out so good too…"

"I know, I know. Sometimes life throws you a curveball and you don't expect it. In our case though, life gave us a ball rather than a strike so it means we've got more chances to correct it."

"Odd analogy."

"If it works to help get my point across, then it works."

Grace just smiled and shook her head as she let silence and bliss take over the two. The two blindly watched TV, their minds focused on each other. Luca's head was running around for searching for everything that the two of them could do to make up for the day. Another date at a restaurant would be nice but Luca didn't have a single clue on where any good ones were or how to get to them.

"Do you want to go get dinner?" Grace asked, breaking him out of his trance.

"Oh, um yeah, sure."

The Korean smile and stood up, tossing her plushie back onto the bed. She opened her door and stepped out to wait for Luca so that she could lock her door. Luca walked out of the room and shut the door behind him as he grabbed his girlfriend's free hand. She quickly locked her door before pocketing the key chain. As the two walked down to Mess Hall, Luca asked "So what do you think the new operators that are arriving will be like?"

"I'm not sure honestly. I've never been to Australia or have met somebody from there. All I know is stereotypes and that they're basically the Americans of the land down under since they enjoy doing stupid and absurd things sort of like you guys."

That managed to get a laugh out of Luca, "Blame the British then for the way our countries are now. It's their fault that we've ended up the way we are but I sure as hell wouldn't want it any other way."

"I mean… There are some things you guys could change but I guess they aren't anywhere near as important as everything America is working on. Also, you should take me to America once this entire White Mask ordeal slow down or stops. I'll do the same and take you to Korea eventually."

"We have a good amount of holidays coming out. We may eventually be able to go stateside or to Korea if you'd like that."

"That would be a dream come true."

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **2/03/2019**

 **7:45 AM**

~"This announcement is a heads up for all operators. The meeting shall be held in the Meeting Room at 8:00 sharp, do not be late or there will be consequences. Fuze, I'm talking to you." The overhead speaker said to the waiting crowd that were currently eating breakfast.

"We might as head there early. It'll probably start sooner if we all arrive before the deadline as well as make Six in a better move after the event that had occurred yesterday." Miles suggested, standing up from his seat.

Mumbling filled the entirety of Mess Hall as the man left. Luca and Grace looked at each other before shrugging and standing to follow their fellow operator. As they made their way to the door, more and more operators stood to follow leaving no person behind. The group made their way into the Meeting Room, surprised to see that Jordan, Mike, Eliza, and Marius were already already in their seats, waiting patiently and enjoy small talk with each other. When Jordan spotted Luca and Grace enter the room, he motioned for them to come sit with his group.

"Good morning you two," The Texan said as they sat down across from him, "Have you guys been doing alright since the incident?"

"Yeah, we're fine for the most part Jordan, what about you guys? You were the ones fighting the majority of the White Masks."

"Ve're fine, zhey vere all just grunts for zhe most part. Nozhing ve couldn't handle had even shown up." Marius said said he pulled out a packet of gum before distributing a piece to each member of the group.

Eliza happily took her piece and slid into her mouth, chewing it till it got soft so that she could talk. "Me and Cav were mainly just scouts. Afterall, we did encounter Luca and Grace later down the line after Jordan's squad found Luca and let him go on his merry way."

"Still don't know why ya didn't follow yer orders lad," Mike spoke up, pointing all eyes on Jordan, "But it worked out in the end and saved Grace's arse so I guess I can't be too cross with yeh."

Luca put his face on the table and sighed, "If anything did happen to her, it would have been my fuckin fault since I had her separate from me just moments after the attack in hopes of her getting to safety. I should have known better that she'd try and do her part in helping. I'm just too use to pushing others way and being a lone wolf the whole way through."

Thatcher chuckled, "Old habits die hard. And don't worry, your lass can handle herself well enough to not have to worry about her."

It seemed like Mike was going to continue with what he was saying but the sound of someone clearing their throat from the stage. All eyes turned to Six who stood behind the microphone podium, neatly stacking some papers. "Hello everybody, I'm glad to see everybody here and I'm even happier to say that no injuries… Major injuries at least now that I'm taking a look at that soon to be scar on Ghost's face. Anyways, I would like to use meeting as a way to welcome to new faces that had came in just before the collapse of Big Ben. However, I'd like for all the operators that have joined our team after the original groups to meet somebody. He's worked behind the scenes ever since Rainbow was first created. He actually worked with the group up until we recruited Frost and Buck where he then moved off the premises. Havarish Pandey. Or should I say Six?"

"Please, just Harry." The man said as he walked onto the stage. He gazed through the many confused and concerned eyes due to their Director calling him Six. "Yes yes, I know you all have questions about who I am and what I do for Rainbow for everybody that had never met me. However, I have taken up a very important position because the Six you know has gotten a promotion into a high position in the U.S government that I do not have the closure to speak about. I have some big boots to fill now that she shall be moving onto bigger and better things so I hope deep within my heart that you will all accept me as your new Director." Everybody who knew Harry applauded as he took a step back to let their now Ex-Director speak to the group one final time.

"Thank you Harry, you'll make for a fine replacement. I've thought long and hard about it for the last month before deciding you were the perfect person for the job. Moving on though, we have two more faces here that haven't been met yet. Gridlock, Mozzie, come on up please."

Two people walked on to the stage, one was a short man that looked like a ginger Freddy Mercury and a bigger woman who looked like she could give most of the operators in here a beat down in CQB. "Mozzie, please step up and tell the operators a little bit about you and your gadget."

"Uhh Hello everybody! Me name's Max "Mozzie" Goose and both me and my mate Tori over there both came from Australia's very own SASR. Where I excel and will provide usefulness for Team Rainbow is scouting and planning. I can whip up a plan before any of ya even think about making one as well as I was the test driver for our military's stealth bikes so I know a thing or two about being under the radar."

The man stopped speaking to take a drink of water before continuing and pulling out what they could only assume is his gadget. "The cheeky bugger roight here is me gadget. It launches these lil mechanic spiders that can take ova drones if they get to close. Because I have the pests set to bust themselves after they perform their hack, there is no possible way to remove me from thou drone besides destroying the damn thing."

Grace and Luca looked at each other and smirked, "Finding a way to bypass the security system on another operator's gadget? Sounds like that'll be a blast to find a counter hack for."

"I'm to let me best mate speak now so I'll be seeing you around." Max finished, backing off to let his other fellow recruit get a turn to speak.

The woman made her way to the stand and adjusted it to a better suited height for herself before beginning to speak. "Hello, name's Tori "Gridlock" Tallyo Fairfield. Just like me mate Mozzie over there, I'm also from the land down under's SASR division. If you need help wrenching anything, just let me know. I'm one hell of a mechanic but I specialize in vehicles mainly. Especially that Viper I saw when I first arrived, she's a beaut and I'd love to meet the bloke who owns that." Luca raised his hand in which she acknowledged him before continuing, "Thank you Sir, but enough about that and what I can do. This cylinder that is currently next to the podium is the gadget that I have brought to me. If I pull the pin and throw it, a spike trap spawns from it which in return propels miniature spike strips that expand into full sized traps, about 10 of em or so. Great for blocking off entry points, flanks, I've even used these suckers to get those pesky little buggers in corners and as a spike strip against pursuing vehicles."

Tori took a step back as Six walked back to the podium. Six smiled as looked around all her operators, this was the very last time she'd get to see them all as a family. "Each and every one of you, from those who have been here from the start of Team Rainbow, to our most recent operators, Kaid, Nomad, Ghost, even you two Gridlock and Mozzie, you were an amazing family to me for these three years and this meeting is our last time together, at least for a while. I hope you can all find it in your hearts to accept Harry as your new Director. Do what you all know how to do best and protect the world from terrorist scum. This is my farewell as I have a flight ready to take me to Bristol where I'll be met with another flight straight to Washington D.C. This meeting is over, I hope you guys all have a good rest of your day. Mozzie, Gridlock, go get to know your new team. Harry, meet me in your soon to be office, I have something to discuss with you before I leave."

"Hey, we'll catch you all later," Luca said, waving towards him buddies as he grabbed Grace's hand, "I assume we've got some chitter chatter about to happen with these newbies."

"Sounds good, we'll see you around." Eliza waved the couple off.

Grace and Luca were some of the first operators to leave the room while the rest engaged in conversation about what would probably become some Rainbow with their new Director. They saw that the two aussies were waiting at the door for them as they exited the Meeting Hall. Luca stuck his hand out and shook hands with Gridlock then Mozzie, "Luca 'Ghost' Pirelli, this lovely lady with me is my beautiful girlfriend Grace 'Dokkaebi' Nam."

"I'd introduce us but we've just done that so I'm sure you remember our names, is it cool if we take a look at the Viper? I haven't seen one of them in my life." Tori said, giving Luca a light tap on the shoulder.

"Sure thing. I happen to be a mechanic myself as well as I'm a hacker just my girlfriend. Once we're out there, while you look around the car, Me and Grace actually have a challenge for Max here."

"Sounds good, we can discuss that at the car if ya's don't mind too much."

"Not a problem."

The four made their way to the parking lot and tossed his keys to the new girl so that she could look around as well as take it for a drive as long as she didn't completely just full send it or crash it. It was a bit chilly outside so he lended his hoodie to Grace who happily put it on before wrapping arm arms around his chest while he had his arm around her.

"So what's this challenge that you two little hackers have for me? I assume it has something to with these little critters?" Max asked, pulling out a small capsule from his pocket and pressed a small button on top of it. Bits of the gadget came from the capsule forming legs, some sort of radio transmission area which detects drones, and a single blue eye which was probably its camera. At the bottom just under where the legs left the body were multiple needles and tiny lights.

Grace removed one of her arms from Luca and held it out to the short Aussie man who let his little robotic spider wander onto her hand. "Aww, I love it which is weird because I hate spiders. But what this is about comes from something you said when introducing yourself. You said that this little thing self destructed in some way to prevent a hack from taking the drone back. I understand that it's due to it processing through the drone than almost all hacks that we… well, you've done testing with. We think that we could make a program though that works faster than it does which in return we could use to upgrade this cutie and have them work quicker."

"If yeh want to try and make something that can bypass my wee little pest, then go ahead. I think it'll end up just being a waste of yer valuable time as it's as fast as can be."

"Are we allowed to use one of these cuties to do our work on or are we working with our limited knowledge then you'll provide one for us to test on with a drone?"

"I'm able to provide both. I've talked with that Harry lad about some stuff. He said that we won't have to worry about preserving our gadgets and that we've got more spending money from all the different governments round the world."

"Okay, thank you!" Grace exclaimed, as the Pst jumped off her hand and onto his shoulder.

Behind the three, Luca's car roared to life with Tori grinning from behind the wheel of the beast. "Cmon Mozzie! Let's let er rip! She's definitely a certified ripper!"

The ginger gave the couple a two fingered salute and made his way to the car. Before he could close the door, Luca called out and said "Get her back in one piece would ya. Just drop by my room which is next to yours and knock. We'll be in there so you can drop my keys off!"

"Got it Chief. Cmon Tori, let's get a move on and have some fun!"

The sound of tires screeching and the Viper's engine screaming filled the air as the two Australians left the parking lot. "You really trust them with your car driving like that?" Grace asked looking into his eyes.

Luca shrugged, "I may not know them but she's a fellow mechanic. I trust her. The only other operator here I would let drive like that is Siu. She's a hell of a driver, my only worry is that she's 5'3."

Grace giggled, "Yeah. I don't think I'd want somebody that small to drive a car as expensive as yours. I don't even know if you could trust me in your car because I don't even know how to drive stick shift."

"You do realize that I'm going to force you to learn how to drive stick today. You haven't experienced a true vehicle until you've driven a manual car. But that sort of has to wait since I don't have my car now. Anyways, come on kid. Let's go back to the room." Luca said, swiping her off her feet. Grace started laughing and squirming to get out of his hold as he began taking her back inside of the base. He had actually managed wrap him forearm around her and block her arms from trying to provoke him.

The pair got a few odd looks from the other operators but they hardly noticed. They were just hanging out, enjoying their time together. In recent times, Luca has been leaving his room unlocked for whenever Grace and him had separate training sessions so that she could await for him to finish and see him after he showered. Luca and Grace approached his door so he unwillingly released one of her arms, allowing her to open the door just enough to where he could push it open with his knee. Rather than setting her down like he normally would, he sat on the bed and kicked his legs up and let Grace sprawl out on top of him while still holding onto her torso. He covered her neck with multiple light pecks, causing her to just melt into his hold.

"You know," He whispered into her ear, "I don't think I have ever told you this before. But I actually regret not opening up to you sooner."

"Hmm? What makes you say this all of a sudden? We have been dating only three says playboy." Grace mumbled back, her eyes closed in bliss.

"I tried to be stoic and killer like for my entire time here. I'm glad that after those first weeks, you had managed to open me up. Well, somewhat. I'm still full of secrets that you have yet to discover as well as things that shall never been revealed to the world again."

Grace pushed herself up and turned to where she was sitting on his lap with her legs to each side. After wrapping her arms behind his neck and pressed her forehead against his. "I'll just open every door that you have and take peeks until I get the full picture. Hell, I may just breach the door if you let me."

"I'll think about letting you do that but it's going to take you a good while to even get your foot in the door for some of the events that have happened in my life."

"It'll be worth it…" Grace mumbled, connect lips with Luca just as a knock came from the door.

Grace groaned and got off of Luca, "Of course people always have to ruin the moment…" She pouted as she crossed her arms.

Luca smiled and shook his head at her getting upset at the unfortunate timing as he stood and walked to the door, opening it to reveal Tori and Max.

"Here's ya keys mate. She's an amazing ride. Am glad that I've joined Team Rainbow now, we gotta get out and find ourselves a project car for when we have some free time, maybe import something that ain't here in Britain." The hefty woman said, tossing him the keys.

"That'll be no problem madame. I can buy us something and all the parts necessary to rebuild it. I don't know if you've seen our APV garage yet, but we've got all the tools we would ever need in there."

"Alrighty, thanks for letting me know. I'll go check it out and we better get going to find us something to bring back from the dead." She said, turning to leave.

"And mate, just call me Mozzie. I've gone by it for so long and at this point, it's weird if anybody besides me hubby calls me Max." The man requested.

"No problem dude, I'll see you around."

"Later man!" He said, jogging away to catch up to his fellow new operator.

Luca closed the door and locked it. "So where were we?" He asked, looking over his shoulder to his girlfriend.

* * *

 **Boom, that felt like this bitch took ages but it made it within the time frame I set for myself but hey. This chapter is going to come out as soon as I finish spellcheck so like 20 minutes after I finish writing this portion of the Author's note.**

 **Anybody who wants to join a discord server with me and a couple other writers thag had stopped writing like I did who are thinking about returning, DM me. I can send you an invite code.**

 **Moving on from that, feel free to leave a review as they're encouraging and make me want to write more to produce these chapters faster. Ciao everybody!**


	8. DNA Speaks

**This chapter was definitely completed a week faster than I've been doing recently but it is probably due to this being shorter since the last two chapters were 8k and 10k words to where this is around 7.5k. I've got no plans for what my next chapter will be so I may be writing either a shorter chapter or take a little longer than what I usually take.**

 **I do however have an amazing plan, at least in mine and my somewhat beta reader's heads so that is gonna be something worth waiting for to all of y'all reading this since there's more people reading this than I thought possible.**

 **With that out ofnthe way, I hope you are enjoy! Ciao all of my comrades.**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **3/05/19**

 **5:00 PM**

Over the last month, Team Rainbow had been training harder and more often due to the London Attacks. Once Harry had fully taken over as the new Director in Six's place and has found his groove as well as his way to operate the place, life went on smoothly. He checked in with all the operators every two to three weeks to check their mental health, received suggestions on ways to improve their training sessions, teamwork, and group morale. To get the operators out and about more often, he's been sending them out to new locations of much smaller White Mask bases that they could wipe out without breaking a sweat. In his free time, he began doing his research and diving into the personal lives of his operators, of course with their permission to try and find personal connections between not only him, but with other operators as well to form squads with perfect coordination and flawless executions of everything required from them. The one operator who he looked into the most however was Ghost because unlike Vigil whose information was all there, just redacted, Ghost had nothing under his name besides what he had told his previous Director about him growing up which was scarce. Between his date of birth and his death certificate, was a blank slate just waiting to be filled in to let the world know the stories of Luca Pirelli. There was only one thing he managed to mine up the past and it was through multiple DNA tests. Luckily for Harry, Dokkaebi and Ghost along with Bandit and Buck were due to touchdown back on Hereford's ground after a small raid against a White Mask planning base in Greece.

Harry exhaled, content with what he had discovered in the recent hours, having already made content with the person no one knew existed anymore. Harry made his way to the airfield where the CH-53K containing his operators came to view in the distant sky. He waited patiently with a smile covering his face ear to ear as the helicopter land twenty or so yards away from him, allowing the four operators to step out and make their way back to the main barracks of the base. "Buck, Bandit, you two are free to go and do whatever you please. Ghost, Dokkaebi, if it's alright with you two lovely people, could I have a word with you at my office once you drop off the M14 and ACR?"

"Uhm sure Six. I'm assuming you want to meet in your office?" Luca asked.

"That's corrected unless you want it somewhere else. Though I personally think that you'd enjoy the privacy more in my office compared to the rest of the base because what I'd like to speak to you about is on a personal level that I know you'd only be comfortable with Dokkaebi."

"What could be so personal? The United States government only knows what I told the old Six and whatever they dug up through that was the schools I went to and my death. I never did anything big enough for me to have anything notable or out of the norm for me."

Six smiled at the man, "That may be true. However sometimes you have to look past what is just known of a person. You have to dive deeper and what you're searching for will appear before your very eyes. Believe me, I have found what I know you haven't even tried searching for. I will be waiting in my office for you Luca."

Harry turned and began his trek back to his office to await for his operator's arrival. Knowing that the two would stop by their rooms - well Luca's room since Grace had basically moved in with him - so that Grace could get changed into her casual clothing since her boyfriend never actually had or used an outfit for combat, Harry decided to make a quick stop in Mess Hall. He greeted all the operators and checked in with them as he grabbed his coffee to make sure they were doing good. The man made his way back to his office and sat down, taking occasionally sips from the cup.

Just minutes later, a knock came from the door before it opened to reveal the two biggest lovebirds of Rainbow. "No need to sit, we're actually about to leave. My wife and I would like to invite you two to dinner where you shall meet somebody special. I have also taken the time of day and made plans the plans with someone that would have been close to you heart growing up."

"What are you talking about Harry?" He asked, his face showing a clusterfuck of emotions, "I grew up with few friends and they never lasted enough to be considered best friends."

Harry smiled when he noticed Grace grab ahold of the man's hand to calm him. He walked out from behind the desk and stood in front of the taller man. "Anger can be a strong tool. But as a wise professor once said, there's a time and a place for everything. Trust me, come along. I flew her out all the way out from Colorado so that the two of you could meet."

"I'm not going to go meet a woman I've never met in my life just because you think we'd be good together. I already have Grace and don't want anyone else."

Harry sighed and shook his head as he began to make his way out the door. Without turning back or stopping, he made sure to say a single statement loud enough for both the operators to hear. "Guess I'll be telling your long lost sister that you're not interested in meeting your only living family member. If you do change your mind though, please do meet us. We'll be at the Black Diamond, it's a local restaurant at the town you originally went to when you show it. A nice a cozy area."

And with that, he left the room to meet with the woman he had flown out to let her know of the disappointing news.

"Long lost sister?" Grace asked.

Luca sat down, his hands clenching his head. "I was told she died due to compilations at birth… There isn't any possibility of her being around still. What the fuck does Harry have planned? He shouldn't be hitting this hard or close to home. There's nothing about me that could be found in any database. Even the people who knew I was alive said not a peep. I tried so fucking hard to stay under the radar. What do they possibly know that lead them to a supposed sibling?"

"Calm down please Lucky."

"Lucky?"

"Yes, I can explain my reasoning for it later. But for now, calm down and let's get going. I think it'll be better for your mental health if we do go. It's been a long time since you've had any blood family. I can't fill the void that those chunks of life have taken from you. Here, I'll even drive."

"You haven't driven stick for more then 20 minutes on the road though or in heavy traffic." Luca said.

"The place is only 15 minutes away plus the traffic isn't heavy. Now come on, let's go grumpy boy. I know your keys are in the room so I'll go get them. You just make your way to the car."

"But~"

"Nope. I've already made up my mind! I'll meet you down there!"

Luca sighed and hung his head down low as he walked as slow as he could go his car while Grace shot to his room to grab the keys.

Grace bursted into the room and snatched the keys off of Luca's nightstand before leaving the room and locking the door behind her. She rushed down the stairs. On the last flight, she whipped around a corner and bumped into somebody coming up, knocking her glasses off.

"In a rush Grace? That's not like you." Craig teases, bending over to pick the glasses up for her.

"Uhm yeah. Sorry Craig for bumping into you. But yes, I'm in a hurry for once in my life because Six apparently learned that Luca has a sister that he didn't know about since growing up he was an only child."

"Oh, are you two going somewhere to meet her or are you going to be picking her up and surprising him?"

Grace shook her head, "Harry invited the two of us to go to town for dinner with her. Apparently she flew all the way out from Colorado whenever in the states that is."

"Ah she's from the Midwest? That place is considered the most beautiful state in our country. I don't blame her for living there one bit. But you little one, you should get going now. I see you have Luca's car keys and if you wanna play with a toy that expensive, it's best to do it when the owner isn't around."

"I know, but I'm actually following the law and not being a troublemaker. I'm forcing a Luca to go with me to meet her and said I'm driving so here I am now. I'd love to stay and chat but I've really got to go."

Craig nodded and waved, "See you later girlie, tell Luca hello for me."

"I will!" She yelled back as she began sprinting to the door.

Grace had completely forgotten that the car was push to start because Luca had pulled the car up to the exit and had already swapped to his passenger seat with the window rolled down. "You were close enough for it to start so I made sure you didn't have to walk as far. Better get in before I change my mind. I'm not excited about this at all."

Without any hesitation, she jogged to the driver side door and hopped in. "You know, I still sometimes forget that the drivers side is on the left. I've driven right hand drive so much until you got here that it has just became a norm for me."

"I'd figure. We are in the United Kingdom after all. This place is weird compared to the land of the free."

"You Americans. You're all so patriotic. In Korea, men are required to join them military for a specific amount of time and even we aren't that patriotic."

"We earned are spot as the best," He said cockily, "We deserve to flaunt what we've got if you ask me, Craig, Meghan, Jordan, all of us. Might as well too because everyone else enjoys talking bad about us so it gives us some extra reasoning behind it."

Grace rolled her eyes as she shifted the car into first to begin their drive to meet up with Harry. "Just think about it like this. We're going to meet up with him and his wife, then your supposed sister can be an unexpected guest. I want you to enjoy your time off of base. The only time we've left on our own time was for you to teach me how to drive this since the London attacks. Please, just enjoy what you can from this. They've probably got great food."

"I'll enjoy what I can. No promises though if I end up complaining."

"You'll be fine you big baby. Trust me, if you don't like it, I'll owe you something for the time I wasted."

As Grace expected, little to no traffic covered Britain's evening showered roads. Luca was proud of her in all honesty, she drove the car quick and smooth all the way to the restaurant, pulling in next to Harry's 2014 Mercedes S-Class as well as some rental Peugeot 208 that she assumed was his sister's car from the airport.

"How old do you think she is now?" Grace asked.

"20. I remember getting the news on May 22nd, 1998 that my long awaited younger sibling had died due to complications shortly after birth. We didn't have lots of money at the time or really ever so a lot of cash we had to borrow went into that hospital trip just for our family to not gain another member… Let's get this over with, my money says that she isn't who Six thinks she is, I remember my sister's name clear as day."

"If she isn't her, then we can leave. I'm sure that Six will understand even though it'd be rude." Grace said, stepping out of the car, Luca doing the same.

Grace grabbed pulled him by the arm and quickly ruffled his hair before jogging to doors. She knew he wouldn't run after her in situations like this so she made sure to find Harry, his wife, and Luca's sister. It wasn't too hard as the restaurant was a local one so it only had one dining room though their guest was missing.

"Sorry about being a little late but I rushed in here before Luca just to confirm something with you Harry." She said, sitting in one of the two empty seats, "Is this young lady truly Luca's sister? He told me she had died 20 years ago."

"Why don't you let her answer you question?" Harry smiled, looking towards a beautiful young woman walking their way.

"Hello! You must be Grace, my brothers boyfriend! I've heard so much about you this recent week, you better be keeping him in check." She exclaimed, sticking her hand out for a hand shake, my name is Evelynn."

Grace was shocked that her Director talked about her though it shouldn't have surprised her as she was dating the girl's brother, "Nice to meet you too Evelynn, please don't mind Luca too much, he doesn't exactly believe that you're his sister."

"Oh, it's no worries! If I was in the same position as him, I'd be the same way. I didn't even know I had been adopted until I had graduated high school though so I was excited to hear that I got to meet my brother." Her tone suddenly shifted though, "I wish I got to meet my birth parents though, my adoptive parents had told me that them and Luca had died in a terrorist attack."

"Well, look at it this way, one of them managed to escape and you get to meet him today."

As if on cue, Luca walked into the restaurant with his head hung low and hands in his pockets. After sitting down next to Grace, he sighed and looked up at the women in front of him without saying a word.

"Luca… It's me."

"You're not my sister. My sister died twenty years ago in the hospital. My mother was in tears afterwards."

"Mom was in tears because we couldn't afford to keep me. That's what my parents told me, I lived 18 of my 20 years of life not knowing about my family. You have to trust me Luca."

"She wasn't your mother."

Grace saw that that she was tearing up but got looks from Harry and his wife that both said to let the siblings settle it alone.

"Luca. You can't reject me, I came this far to meet you thanks to Harry. I am your sister Evelynn and you can't change that whether you like it or not."

Those words shot Luca's eyes straight open. He looked around the table to see other people's reactions before standing up and motioning for Evelynn to follow him leave Grace, Harry, and his wife at the table. A waiter who was heading their way to ask for drinks hesitated for a moment before heading back to the bar.

"So what do you think they're talking about out there?" Grace asked.

"They're probably just catching up. They've never met and want to get to see what they were missing out each other. Anyways, I believe you and my wife haven't met her. Dokkaebi, this is my wife Rachel. Rachel, one of my operators, Grace 'Dokkaebi' Nam."

The two women exchanged smiles and nods as they had already met before on accident when Rachel was meeting Harry at work. Grace turned her attention to the two siblings outside, Luca was leaning against the glass with his back to everybody except Evelynn.

"I really want to believe it's you Evelynn… I've spent the last twelve years of my life on my own in the world with no family and no friends. Sure, I occasionally bonded with people for a small amount of time. The only people I had befriended where it was somewhat constant were two different guys who I've ended up talking to once a year or so." Luca mumbled, avoiding his sister's eyes.

"Luca, look towards to future from here. I'm close to finishing university so I'm not nearly as busy in life. If you give me your phone number, we can talk since I know being in the deployed in military is hard work and stressful."

"Uhh… yeah. Military work… It's not even that that is stressful in all honesty. Yeah, the worry of me getting wounded or dying is there, but that's at the back of my mind." He said, scratching the back of his head since he knew he couldn't speak about what Rainbow truly was.

"What do you mean that's not stressful? I'd be stressing out and worried that one of these days would be my last day!"

"That's because you're still young. Me? I've been doing this since the death of Mom and Dad, that occurred on my 18th birthday and I'm 31 now. For the longest time, I wished for death so it never bothered me. Grace has been a huge help though in the last three months, I love her to death and I know she's going to always be there."

Evelynn pulled Luca into a hug, "You have me now for when she's busy. I promise that we will stay in contact so that your children have have an aunt and mine an uncle."

Luca laughed as he pulled away, "You're too young to be thinking about children and I'm getting to the point to where I am too old for children. I'm already in my thirties to where you're not even 21 yet, if anybody is going to have a child, it is definitely going to be you."

"Awww come on," She said, slightly smacking his arm, "You and Grace would make one of the cutest babies to have ever lived! I bet she would be completely down for baby makin' if it's coming from the looks of you, once you two have been together long enough."

Luca shook his head as he turned away from his sister to hide the smile and bright red blush that covered the entirety of his face. "Come on, they're waiting for us inside, I saw a waiter come to get our drinks before we left but he seemed to be waiting until all of us are there." He said, holding the door open for Evelynn.

The girl happily skipped past him and greeted everybody before sitting down. Luca followed her path and grabbed ahold of Grace's hand under the table as he sat down. "My apologies Six, Grace, and …"

"Rachel."

"And Rachel. Evelynn and I had to take a few minutes to catch up at least a little bit."

"No worries Ghost. After all, I did bring you and Dokkaebi here for you to meet Evelynn here for the first time. You've done a lot for us since joining so I had Doc and Finka do DNA tests as well as a few others help me out to try and find your family. I figured somebody was out there and it turns out I was right."

It looked like Evelynn was just moments away from asking something judging by her expression but she didn't get the time to ask due their waiter walking up to them and introducing himself before taking order of their drinks. Once he left to let the group go over the menu, Evelynn took her chances.

"Harry, may I possibly ask you something? Why are they referring you to as Six, then you to Luca as Ghost and Grace as Dokkaebi?"

"Privacy my dear, I told them they could call me Harry when I had first accepted the position, but their levels of professionalism have clouded their mind I guess you can say. However in my case, I am sort of required to call them by their code names. You'll meet the rest of our family after dinner, you'll love them. They're all great people."

"Oh so you guys are like a higher up division of the United Kingdom's? That's neat."

"Uhm, not really only the U.K's. We work kind of wherever is needed. We are just stationed here." Grace corrected.

"Sort of wish we were in the states though. Being here in Europe is cool and all but the weather here is hardly ever beautiful. It's normally rainy and down in the dumps here while back in America, you could actually tell the difference between seasons, as well as the lovely summer heat." Luca said, adding in his two cents to the conversations.

Their waiter quickly came back with their respective drinks before pulling out a notepad and pen. "Are you guys ready to order?"

The five looked at each other and gave subtle nods. "My lovely wife and I will share the Original Full Order Ribs." Harry putting the two menus in the center of the table.

"Southwest Chicken Caesar Salad please." Evelynn said, stacking her menu on top of the first two.

"Old Timer with Cheese."

"I'll just have chicken tenders."

Grace and Luca put the two menus on the stack, allowing the waiter to collect them all at once and take the orders back to the kitchen. Luca and Grace resumed holding hands as he left.

"So Ghost, I assume that your sister would love to know you and Dokkaebi's love story, that would make for an interesting dinner story." Harry suggested.

Luca rose an eyebrow at his director's suggestion but decided against question it. "I don't really know. When I first showed up here, I found her as a nuisance at first because she had to help me with a lot of things I had previously only done on my own due to a cast and stitches that I needed. My mind slowly started to change when I became more capable of doing my own things alone, but the two of us do have Gustave to thank. He sorta began pushing the two of us together and Grace introduced herself to me. While not the most effective way he could have done it, we did actually have an 'exploding' phase just to see what we were comfortable with after a little incident with my last had occurred."

"I'd ask about the incident but it's probably something extremely personal and I may be your sister, but we've only known each other for a short while."

Luca shot a small smile Evelynn's way, "No no, it's fine now. I've gotten over it for the most part and have spent too much time grieving. It was over our parents, how I could have saved their lives if I had only just have stayed home and have mom make food rather than going out to a restaurant at a mall. I've been absolutely devastated by it since then though I have definitely been getting better since my attempted suicide."

"What?" Harry and Evelynn asked simultaneously.

"The night where me and Grace had I guess you could say got together, I nearly took my life. She followed me up our base and scaled the wall like I did so that she would even have the chance to find me since I had run off from our dinner table. Twas' all due to some personal things I'd rather not talk about here, and I told nobody including Doc, Finka, or even the original Six. If I told you guys when it happened, I would have been kept on base even longer and would of either actually of pulled the trigger, or have gone AWOL to do my own missions. So do me a favor Harry, keep me on the active role. I haven't had a vacation in over 12 years, and I really don't need one now when it counts most."

"I'm concerned with that, but you don't have to take a vacation. Well, yet. You and the other American operators will be heading home for the first week of July for Independence Day. It's mandated that every operator spends a week at their mother country in their Independence Day like holidays. Then this one is my choice, but you'll be joining Doki and Vigil in Korea this coming August."

"Is Grace going to be joining me in America because I don't own any property back home, I always just used a buddy of mine's place to store the vehicles I bought."

"We can discuss that and you'll have to make some phone calls it sounds like."

"You guys can stay at my apartment, my friend's parents own the complex so my rent is really cheap as well as I've got two bedrooms and two bathrooms." Evelynn jumped in, excitement filling her voice.

Harry agreed with what the young woman had said. He began explaining to the three the possibility they had staying with each other and all the activities to each other. Just as the man was about to continue on helping young recruits on military bases local to the area, the waiter came back a couple of times to deliver everybody's food as well as refill drinks. After checking in with us to make sure everybody was satisfied, he started checking in with the other customers that slowly made their way to the surrounding table.

* * *

 **An Hour Later**

"Don't worry about paying, I've got that covered. You guys are all my guests after all." Harry said, placing his debit card on the check.

Luca shrugged and sat a 10 pound tip on the table, he stood up, bringing his girlfriend up with him. "Evelynn, I want you to follow us. We'll be in the yellow Dodge out there, it won't be hard to miss. If you lose us, follow the noise of our car or just call me." Evelynn hopped out of her seat and waved her farewell to Harry and joined the other two with standing behind their seats. "Six, we'll see you there. I'll probably take her to the Recreational Room first so that you could give he a proper tour of the base."

"Okay my friends. You all be careful, I would personally prefer for you three to not get kidnapped and beaten, again in your matter."

"There won't be anybody to do so, trust me. Now later Six, I'll see you at Hereford in twenty or so minutes.. Grace, I'll drive this time so can uhm, toy with her since she has the Peugeot."

The three walked out, Evelynn almost immediately began gawking at the yellow vehicle in front of the group. "Dudeee! Harry's Mercedes is pretty cool but what is this? It's got a snake badge on it as well as it's probably fast as all hell."

Luca just smirked as the car roared to life, startling her. A sly smile covered his face as he walked to the car and opened the door, "Come on, you really think I'd settle for anything less? I also did say I was driving the Dodge"

"I didn't know that you've gotten extremely wealthy, how much does this car even cost?"

"Don't worry about that. Just let me know how much your bill is for college and I'll pay for that too if you'd like. Before you sorry about that though, let's get ourselves back to base. Follow me, it won't be too difficult with a bright yellow car."

"Will do."

Grace and Luca hopped in the car and put on some music before beginning the short drive home. "You know, you still haven't told anybody where you got all your money from. I know you said you committed crimes."

"Payday Gang. We did jobs world wide. The difference between me and them though is I would only do stealth jobs or inside jobs that didn't require me to kill those innocent people. I spoke to Bane about trying to do some of the jobs with more pacifism since I refused to kill any cops that weren't crooked. Name some of the jobs that were done where lots of money were stolen but zero casualties, I can assure you I was there either on site or in the back doing something for them. Now do me a favor, let's not speak of it because while I made good friends during that, I made lots of enemies and regret joining that group. I may be a millionaire from it, but some of those guys having hundreds of millions of dollars. Me? I've got maybe 10 or so million left that I've been having somebody invest for me so that I can keep earning."

"I can't exactly be mad at you specifically, but would you like to give up the locations of these people you worked with?"

"They were my brothers, helped me through my struggles, the world knows their names but they've changed them after helping Bane complete the ultimate heist. I'd tell you about it but I'd be found and killed if I did. Just know, everybody who contributed - not me - made shit loads of cash as a payoff to stop their organization and CrimeNet from the government as well as pardoned. Everybody who returned to crime has been arrested and sentenced to life though."

"So you were apart of one of the biggest criminal mastermind groups the world has seen?"

"The biggest, not one of the biggest. And sadly, yes. I was apart of them for a year and a half. They helped me with the Masks in return for my hacking abilities. While I was in late teens and early twenties. I didn't know what else to do, I wanted to die but wanted to take as many of those damn terrorist with me before then so it kind of benefitted me since I was thought to be dead and off the grid."

Luca expected her to ask what was going on in his head at the time but she didn't say a word, her response instead was to just rest her hand just above his knee, gently rubbing it to comfort him. The ride was quiet for the most part but towards the end, Grace started to talk to him about how she isn't to bothered since he didn't want to kill anybody as well as how it made him the person he was today. A stoic person softened by humanity's clash of darkness combatting the light was her explanation, he was an Artemis in her eyes. At the base's gates, he relayed the information that the car behind him was a visitor to the base and to let her in. He slowed down once getting passed so that he could ensure that the security guard let Evelynn inside and made sure that she parked her car one spot away from his.

The three exited their vehicles nearly simultaneously, "Welp. This is home sweet home for us and many others. It isn't anything too special, but it works since we spend most of our days here." Luca said, "Just follow Grace and I. We'll show you around the places that we can, we've got our food area, a gym, recreational room, then your living space for the time you're here. Don't worry, I think you'll like it since it was Grace's old room before she decided she wanted to slowly move into my room."

"You can't really blame her, she does love you after all." Evelynn replied, giving the man a single wink.

Grace embraced Luca, giving a soft peck on the cheek, "You know you love every moment of me being there, plus you helped move me in so you wanted it to."

Luca turned to hide his red face as he grabbed his girlfriend's hand and gently pulled her to go inside, Evelynn behind the two laughing. The first place they went to was the now empty Mess Hall before heading upstairs to the rec room after explaining that the gym was in the basement. Inside the Recreational Room were Jordan and Eliza who were cuddling on the couch watching Deadpool 2, Shuhrat and Alexandr were taking shots at one of the small tables, then finally Ela, Mark, Timur, and Erik playing a game of poker.

Jordan looked over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps behind him. "Oh, what's up you two? Who's the F.N.G that you seem to have brought here?"

"She's my sister dude, this is the first time we've ever met because I grew up thinking she had died but in reality, my parents couldn't afford a second child. I'd go further in depth with my explanation but oh well, that should cover gist of this entire thing."

"Oh, so how do you know that she's your sister? I know she didn't pop up out of the blue and find you, a man that's untraceable and refuses to do any paperwork to have him recognized as a citizens of anywhere."

"Well Six is the person who found her thanks to Gus and a few scientists' help. They compared the DNA samples to nearly every in the area of birthday being in my town. That's how they found her then got her her via contacting her adoptive parents, she's going to be here for a little so please treat her fine."

"Was planning on it buddy, just didn't expect somebody who wasn't one of us to be here. Can't blame me for that one." Luca said, walking up to the side of Jordan Eliza wasn't on, "Don't say a fucking word about us being a secret organization, she's just a college student and shouldn't have to worry about what our job is."

Jordan gave a small nod and replied "Why wouldn't we be nice to her, she may be a civvy, but she's still a person."

Grace shook her head, "Then don't call her a 'fucking new gal' Jordan, that is quite rude of you to have said as a first impression."

"Well the pardon little ol' me," he mocked, "but I assumed that you had brought back another new operator and were showing them around the day before everybody else learned about them. After all, it's happened to the most recent five of you."

"Then you enjoy your time with Eliza, we need to show Evelynn her room since as my boyfriend said, she's gonna be staying here for a little bit since it was a family reunion sort of thing."

"Sounds good, ciao my friends." Jordan said, turning his attention back to the movie. The three left and continued upstairs to the dorms for Evelynn.

"Is he always like that?" She asked.

"Sorta, he's just your average Texan so he wouldn't be much different in the states either. I swear, all the other Americans aren't like him, well, completely. We're all cocky at heart but as Americans, we have the right to be though afterall."

"I guess."

Grace pulled the keys from her pocket and tossed them to Evelynn who snatched them from the air. "Go ahead, open up your new room for a little while. I didn't bring everything with me so it should feel homely enough."

Luca and Grace stood behind Evelynn as she unlocked and slowly opened the door. Her eyes widened and jaw dropped as she witnessed how nice the room was, the baby blue walls actually matched the black secondary color that accented the room, all of her plushies were missing since they had been either sold, donated, or moved to Luca's room if they were one of her favorite plushies. "How much money does the government pay you guys? This room is smaller than my apartment but everything in here is of such high quality and must have been extremely expensive."

"Not really, it's mostly stuff I brought with me or was donated to me when I first showed up before Brexit and all that jazz. But what are your thoughts how do you like the place?"

"It's amazing! Thank you so so so much!" Evelynn exclaimed as she brought Grace into a tight embrace. "It's so nice, my place is bigger but I can't afford nearly half of how good everything here is." She continued in a quieter voice.

Grace returned the hug, "Just do me a favor and don't trash it like a normal college student would do. I'd like for the room to be in nice condition and not completely shredded from stuff all over the room."

"I promise, you guys can go go off and do your thing, I'm going to go back to my car and grab the clothes and somethings needed for college so I don't piss my professor off. Ciao lovebirds!" She said, letting Grace go and jogging back down the stairs.

"She forgot to close her door." Luca stated.

"She'll be fine, it won't take long for her to get back. But what shall we do now?"

"What do you want to do? It's around 7:30 so I'm not sure what there is to do. We could keep working on trying to find a way to bypass Mozzie's drone since we've made some progress on it."

"I'm not feelin it. I think I've got an idea but it's a bit of a drive. Found somewhere for us to hang out at while you were away on that mission in Georgia."

"Sure, let's go."

The two made their way down to his car, passing Evelynn on the way. Once inside the car, Luca connected his phone to the car's bluetooth allowing Black Wedding by In This Moment to start playing throughout the car. Luca began their short trip, singing along to each song that played which got giggles out of Grace due to his subpar singing capabilities mixed with how hard yet casual he was trying. The sun had fallen and night had taken over the land, the stars scattered throughout the Milky Way twinkling in the night sky. Somewhere along the way, Luca turned on to a dirt road and slowed the car as they pulled into what seemed to be a small off-road parking lot. Knowing nobody else would be here at this time of night, he parked the car sideways to not worry about hitting the front bumper on anything in front of him.

"Trust me, you'll love this." Luca assured, turning the car off and getting out. He rushed to the passenger door before Grace could get out and opened it for her, gently taking her hand to help her out of the car.

Grace happily accepted and closed the car door behind her, "So, where are we going?" She asked, sticking close to his side.

Luca pulled out his phone and turned his flashlight on to follow the beaten path. "Every time you were on a mission that I wasn't one, I'd take a hike and this place is definitely by far my favorite area solely due to the gorgeous view it provides. I bet it's even better at night."

"Now you've got my attention even more now. Lead the way."

The two slowly ascended up the hill, hand in hand with nothing but Luca's phone's flashlight to illuminate the dirt path. They had to go through multiple tight spaces due to the path being surrounded by bushes, trees, and shrubbery. The sound of the wind and crickets filled the night, the breeze gently caressing its company's cheeks as they passed by.

"We're nearly there, I hope you're prepared to be astonished Gracie." Luca said, covering her eyes with his free hand.

"Do you have to cover my eyes? I could just close them you know."

"You're a trickster, I know you wouldn't fully close them and that would ruin the surprise."

Luca held Grace close as they entered a small clearing surrounded by shrubbery, trees, and a small cliff side overhang. He brought them about 10 or so feet away from the edge after closing his own eyes. "I don't think you're ready because this is the beautiful side of nature that only movies can replicate." He slowly uncovered her eyes as well as opened his own. A small gasp came from Grace as her eyes widened at the view. In front of them just under the cliff side was a glimmering like was lots of small lights all around and above it.

"What are those lights? They're so pretty!"

"Fireflies, I did some research after seeing them here and learned that they aren't native to Korea so I knew that this place would be special to you. It stunned me when I first found this place because I also had never seen a firefly in my life.

"Luca… this is the most beautiful sight I've ever witnessed…"

* * *

 **Thank you so much everybody reading this. 3300 views is fucking amazing for the short amount of time this story has been out. It's partially the reason why I update this pretty often compared to how I use to update stories. I use to put out a 2k long chapter and took a month to write that. Now I'm averaging two 7.5k long chapters a month very nearly because this story has some many possibilities compared to my other stories. They hold a special place in my heart but compared to this, they suck major ass.**

 **Everbody that has left a review, followed, or favorited this story, thank you very much. I'm glad that my story has reached your expectations that I never thought were possible from mysef. I hope you all have a great rest of your day, goodbye!**


	9. Paint Bath

**Bada bing, bada boom. Short chapter because I can. I honestly having nothing to say here but I just want to shout out PanzerjagerKriegmeister's story since I let him use my first chapter as a base platform for his first chapter. Oh and thank you for 4000 views.**

 **This chapter is a filler chapter to just progress the story's time as well as a small send off for Evelynn for now that is. This chapter was also a bit rushed so it may or may not be up to atandards compared to all of my previous chapters as well as it taking me an entire week to even start writing this story as well as an extra week to get past the first thousand words because I had a bit of writers block**

 **I hope y'all all enjoy this chapter that I had no plans on for.**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **3/11/19**

 **1:30 PM**

"What are you looking at? Why is James in a furry costume, Gilles a pink butterfly, Craig a yoga teacher, and Alexsandr a unicorn?" Evelynn asked, looking over Luca's shoulder at his phone screen.

"I don't know, Grace sent me it earlier and said that the name for this style of outfit is something like 'Rainbow is Magic' but I don't know why she had to do this to those four. I'm just glad she didn't design an outfit for me as well."

"Uhm, Okay? But back to my original question, do you want to go or no? I know Grace is out with Monika and Ela doing girl things. You might as well come with me and hang out since this is the last day I'm here since Six is sending me back tomorrow so that I don't miss more classes than needed. He may be a government worker but he doesn't have all the power in the world. Plus I need a better job so I'd personally like to finish college."

"I don't know Eevee. What would we be doing? I'm not exactly a fan of being dragged around to clothes, perfume, furniture, etc, stores like that. I mean, if you want to stop and get something to chow down on, I'm down. Didn't eat too much at Mess Hall."

"Of course not silly! We could head down to Hereford from here and just wander around time. It's only a short distance from here Herefordshire to there. Just have some fun there, ya know?" Evelynn asked.

"Okay but please for the love of god. Let's both decide on where we go rather than only one of us since Grace can really be stubborn at times. Come on, we'll head to the car." Luca grumbled, standing up from the couch and meeting his sister at the doorway to the Recreation Room. "Want to take the little rental Peugeot of yours? It gets better gas mileage than my car."

"Yeah… but yours is more fun. That's what today is going to be about so we can enjoy ourselves. I won't be able to see you until July anyways unless you decide to visit Colorado just out of the blue. Here." She said, walking away before tossing his keys behind her in which which he caught using a single finger through one of the rings.

Luca rolled his eyes and jogged to catch up to her, "Come on man, I was gonna for the last two days in Germany to help with something. Relaxation is something I'd love rather than really running around all over the place."

Evelynn sighed and grabbed him by the ear, yanking it so he would get down to her level. "I understand your job is harder than mine but there is no need to be a lazy ass a spend the day with me please."

When she finally let go of his ear, he groaned and began rubbing his ear, "You're just like mom… I'm not sure if I'm exactly a fan of that or not."

"Then I'll be taking that as a compliment because other than your complaining, you seem like you're pretty well behaved. Impatient however." She teased, making fun of her older brother at his occasionally immaturity.

"

!Whatever," He said, stepping off the stairs and onto the pavement, "Your little legs are holding you back, hurry please."

"Well I'm sorry that I'm a little 5'5 girlie while you're a giant person at six foot. You have longer strides and bigger feet than I do so you cover longer distances faster than I do." She yelled as she rushed to catch up to him.

By the time she has finally caught up, he had already opened his door and was in the process of getting inside. She replicated his same moves and sat down, adjusting her seat as the car started up. Her brother had already connected his phone to the car's Bluetooth and had Move Your Body by My Darkest Days playing as he sung along.

"I can understand you singing this with Grace in the car by why me? It's a bit sexual." Evelynn asked.

"Calm down, it's just a song plus the most sexual thing Grace and I have done is made out so calm down wouldya."

"I don't need to know about your non-existent sex life. That's like me telling you how the only person I've made love with is my boyfriend of the 5 years."

"And I haven't had sex in the last 5 years, big deal."

"Jesus Christ. I'd ask you if you're okay in the head and dick but you're my brother so that's weird as heck so I'll refrain from knowing your sexual history."

"Mostly one night stands, never kept a girlfriend for longer than a week."

Evelynn facepalmed, "Maybe because of you not being open to the world, I don't know. That's probably why they only wanted you to fuck them rather than actually have a relationship but I wouldn't exactly take my word for it. I know you want to open up more but not caring for what you say isn't exactly the best way to do that."

Luca shrugged as he downshifted, his tachometer's needle hitting nearly redline as he decelerated. "It's better than nothing if you ask me. Besides, it's me opening up in my own way rather than somebody else's. You have to be your own person to truly identify as your own. There's approximately 7.7 million people like you and around 500 exactly like you in this world. I don't want to be like them all, I want to differentiate myself to that I am a one of one person, not a one of five hundred. Sometimes you have to do things the way you know nobody else would do something to to be that one of one kind of person that everybody remembers when you're passing by."

Evelynn sat there flabbergasted at his explanation for doing things his way. When the two would talk about schooling, Luca would always shy away from any form of language arts because of how much he struggled with it compared to something like math, science, and whatever other core classes he had. So hearing that from the person she would have never guessed it from had really left a shocked expression on her face. That was probably that closest thing to a Shakespearean quote as Luca would ever get in his entire life of simplicity.

"You okay? You look like you've seen a… 'ghost'." Luca asked, smiling to himself at the joke he made using his name.

"Uhm, yes. I am fine. I just didn't expect something that deep with so much meaning to have come out of your mouth of all people because you're more of a simple and traditional type of person." She admitted.

"That doesn't mean that I can't be a philosophical person, it just means that I prefer things to not be over complicated in life and that there is always an easier solution than what you're told. That's why I consider myself a simple minded person. But anyways, that's besides the point. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go paintballing. We could do me versus you and a bunch of people there because I bet I could handle you all single handedly."

"Well that's a bit cocky of you isn't it?"

"Not really. I think it's fair game because you haven't seen me in action yet girlie. You don't understand just how high up in military power I am as well as my skills and abilities."

"You may be a part of a special team but I bet that multiple people hunting you at once would leave you vulnerable in many different areas."

"AIs Shall we test it then? I bet I could take on at least 10 or more of you on at once with the field's own guns rather than my own because I don't own one."

Evelynn took a moment to think before saying "Ah, fuck it. It wouldn't hurt to do it."

"That's a lie, you get shot and it'll hurt for a while and leave a gnarly welt if it's not where you're padded up. They hurt more than airsoft but I haven't seen any of those around here."

"Your loss."

Luca laughed at her, "Trust me kid. One of me and ten of y'all? You guys stand no chance. Besides, I've already changed my GPS's route to the nearby paintball arena. Can't beat a man in his prime, that's for damn sure."

"Man in his prime? Don't make me laugh. You're becoming an old man. You were in your prime maybe five years ago. I'm ninety percent sure arthritis is sneaking up on you surely."

"Ha, very funny. I'm one of the youngest of our group. Mark is the youngest and Kaid is the oldest, I'm way closer to Mark's age. Besides, I wouldn't consider myself old until 35 because that's the final year of being allowed to make children if you ask me."

"You and Grace won't have to worry about waiting 4 more years, I'd say give it a year, maybe less."

Luca scoffed, "I'll give you a thousand dollars if I end up knocking her up in less than a year but just know, that ain't happening."

"Can you add an extra hundred if me and whoever else there can beat you in paintball? I think I'll need the money more than you since everybody back at your base says you're loaded based on your car, that Viper I think it was a called and Eliza saying that you had a car called an 8C which after doing some research, is an Alfa Romeo whatever that is that had only 500 made and cost a couple hundred thousand."

"I'll add an extra 500 if you guys beat me, I'm feeling a bit generous since I already offered to pay for the rest of your tuition."

"Deal."

"Good because we're here."

Evelynn scanned the gravel parking lot, loads of cars were scattered around but one had caught her attention. "Hey Luca, is that TVR Tamora I think it is Craig's car? I remember him bringing it home and talking about it to anybody who would listen."

Luca approaches the yellow convertible and looked inside to see a bunch of parts that Craig was going to dispose of after replacing them. "Yes, that it definitely his car. How about this, me and him versus everybody here if we can find him. Let's go to the shack, collect our masks, guns, air tanks, and paintballs for the day."

The siblings walked into the old and outdated shack but we're surprised at how nicely the interior was kept. Paintball guns covered the walls while in the smaller shelves sat the masks and bags of paintballs containing 500 each. Luca picked up four bags of paintballs, a black mask and a red mask, and two paintball guns and took them to the front desk.

"Hello sir, I'd like to purchase 2000 paintballs and rent the guns, masks, and two air tanks."

"55 pounds per person, please." He said, grabbing two air tanks from below the counter to fill them with the compressed air." Luca grabbed his wallet and took out his debit card, handing it over to the employee.

"Hey Burnie, I'm back for more paintballs!" Somebody exclaimed, pushing the door open. Craig walked in with his gun and wallet in his hands with his mask covering his head. "Oh shit, what's up Luca? What are you and Evelynn doing here?"

"I suggested to Evelynn we go paintballing and that I could beat her and 9 other people alone."

"Well damn man, how about we do me and you versus everybody here? I can almost guarantee you there we'll destroy everybody with me being a Navy Seal and you an ex-mercenary and ex-assassin."

"Ex-mercenary and ex-assassin?" Evelynn asked.

"None of anybody's business and I'd rather not talk about it. But returning back to that, hell yeah dude. Me and you could kick everybody's asses here because we're professionally trained. Well, I am at least but you've done your own personal training and it's worked out pretty damn well in your case."

"Here's your air tanks sir. Just follow Craig out to the fields since it seems like you know him."

"Alright, thanks. Also, charge the card for 1000 more paintballs for Craig please." The man tapped away at the keys for the paintballs and swiped the card before handing it back to Luca. "Hey Craig, grab two bags and let's get moving, I want to show these rookies how it's done in America."

"You said it brother, follow me. I can take you to the area where everybody gets set up before the matches, I'm a regular here and could ask the staff for a special game of me and you versus everybody else since I know you have that bet with little Evelynn here."

"Yeah and my team is gonna win." Evelynn said, putting her hands on her hips.

Craig just waved her off, "Maybe but I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you. Luca and I are professional and licensed to kill if need be to where everybody else here are people who enjoy the thrill of the game or wanted to play their FPS games in person since we don't have any airsoft things here due to the UK's awful laws. Gotta go inland and off this island if you actually want to use BBs and guns that truly look like guns."

The three grabbed their gear and made their way down the dirt path to an enclosed area with multiple tables and a single tower in the center with megaphones attached to it. They dropped their stuff off on one of the tables and put their masks on top of their heads while they began loading the guns and putting the compressed air in them.

"Hey, I'll go talk to the owner about doing our little game. You two prepare for this warfare." Craig said before walking off to the tower.

"So," Luca said, shooting a single paintball at the ground to test the gun, "Are we doing this on this small arena we passed by or this larger one right next to us?"

"Probably the larger one. There's 15, maybe 20 other people here so the small arena would have it to where we just overwhelm you into a corner or small area of cover."

"Okay, then we can have me and Craig can have our one little one v one in the smaller arena afterwards."

"Yeah, see who is the better of the two American operators. The jacked man, or the skinny guy who can run away better than anybody else."

Luca rolled his eyes, "Parkour helps all around. Just because it involves sprinting and continually using momentum to move doesn't mean it's always used to run away from people. It generally helps obtain flanks your opponent won't suspect and before they see you, they've already been dropped dead. It also helps me get to areas of cover without any problems."

"I'm sure it does sweetheart but this is paintball, I don't think it's going to help you win here today. Everybody here probably knows this field like the back of their hands to where you don't know the layout."

Luca didn't say a word, he just smiled at his sister as he pulled his wallet out from his cargo shorts and took out a folded piece of paper. He slowly began to unfold it and lay out the paper on the wooden table.

"Why do you have a map of the arena here if you've never been here?"

"I've been meaning to come here but never did until today so I've sorta got the layout here down and established so I've got a pretty damn good idea on how everything is."

"Okay everybody!" The overhead speaker boomed, "I know you all know Craig, that Navy Seal who is here quite frequently, has one of his fellow comrades with him by the name of Luca and they challenge you to fight. Them against everybody else, so if you bloody men and girl are ready, meet at the arena entrance and we'll send you all to your separate sides."

Luca looks towards Evelynn with a smirk as he pocketed the map, "Show time." He said, grabbing his gun and mask.

Evelynn and him followed the group seemingly out of place. Them and Craig were the only person in just casual clothing with bare skin exposed, everybody else wore long sleeve clothes and jeans while everybody else wore full on camouflaged khakis and shirts, most of their also had gloves and padding covering most of their body in the spots most likely to be hit like their thighs, lower and upper torso, and biceps with occasional shoulder pads being noticed.

The two found Craig in the cluster and stuck near him while the directions of the game we being given. The most significant to Luca's ears were the use of destructibles, there had apparently been a long pause between this game and the last one that had played and it was due to the different officials setting up many different barricades of fake wood as well as reinforcements being made of plywood that would require more effort to break down.

"Civilians! You shall all be spawning on the northern side of the map! Military! You shall be spawning in the southern side. Due to the team size disadvantage, those two will take two shots instead of one to take down. With no other special rules in play, everybody off to your spawns. The match begins once the flare is shot off from the center building."

Evelynn waved farewell to the two men as she split up to join the rest of her group. Craig and Luca lowered their masks over their faces as they walked to their spawn point. "So, hand gestures only until need or spotted?"

"Of course, they won't know what hit them because I have yet to go all out here."

"Aight. I'm guessing after this, we'll just be doing normal games until we're out of paintballs like back in the US?"

"Of course. Or we could buy more though they are kind of expensive."

"We have enough of them to play maybe five games on this arena then a one on one between me and you in the battle box arena."

"Sounds good."

The two finally reached the end of their side and awaited for the flare to be shot off. While Craig was just sitting on a rock, Luca was studying the environment around him and how he could use everything to his advantage. He wasn't sure what the interior of the center building was like but he knew the layout as well as where an underground passage could be found and used as an escape route. From what he could see, otherwise open walls were covered by destructible plywood that could take some hits and doorways were covered by an even thinner type of wood that could easily break to a kick or a hit with the gun.

"I could cheat if I wanted to and call their phone in all honesty but that'd be too easy and obvious if if they each got a call one after another since I can't get them all simultaneously like Grace."

"Yeah no, don't do that. There's only 20 of them since the rest went to the speed arena. We need to be ready to go and get to the center house before they do."

Apparently Luca was extremely distracted from all of the possibilities because Craig tapped his shoulder and pointed at the falling flare in the sky, "Time to move kid. We've got some showoffs who I think need an ass kicking and a sister who doesn't believe in your abilities."

Craig stormed the house and hit the covered window with the butt of his gun, ripping a decent sized hole into the window's barricade. He pulled out a paint grenade, waiting for the sound of the barricade being broken down with his gun trained at the corner of the house in anticipation of somebody trying to flank. Luca on the other hand had made his way to a shack just east of the house and drop kicked a door open before running inside to look out the small window for anybody coming behind Craig. A small smirk formed on the Americans face as two men in camp peaked around the corner. Seeing as it seemed clear, they slowly moved it, already aiming just in case one of the two operators would pop up. Luca took a deep breath as he aimed at the two slow moving targets, his mind racing with a plan of escape as his position will be compromised after he takes the two out.

A sound of a pop could be heard from the building followed by three voices shouting "Out." Not wanting his two victims to escape as he knew they were about to get reckless and run around the house, he took his shots.

"Out!"

"Out!"

Luca walked out of the shack, a multiple paintballs zipped by his body. Rather than return fire, he made a break for it to get to the center house where Craig was setting up shop at, Luca had made it about half way when a paintball struck his left biceps causing a wave of pain to make its presence known throughout his body. The operator swore under his breath knowing he could only get hit one more time. He took one of the paint grenades from of his satchel and dropped it at his feet as he turned the corner to his home side of the house knowing he'd be pursued. Two shouts of the magical word erupted behind him as he dove into the building, the sound of a firefight coming from above him. Luca crept up the stairs, three bogeys coming into view using the hallway as cover against Craig who was pinned down in one of the rooms. Three quick shots was all it took for Luca to knock the three out of the game. He walked past the three - after some fist bumps - to check on Craig.

"Craig, I got them. Only ten remaining and we have control of house. They have to come to us now."

Craig's head peaked over the flipped table he was hiding behind, a giant yellow blotch of paint covering his mask's left eye cover.

"Duck!"

Luca dropped to the floor instantly as the Navy Seal began firing. Luca rolled away from the doorway and trained his gun to the door. A man with a hand up walked by, and was muttering something along the lines of having the remaining nine to throw grenades into the room.

"Craig, help me break the window. I'm getting onto the roof, you try and get out of here once the window is open, there's a hidden hatch in the small bedroom next to stairs, the handle is going to be covered so you're gonna have to slightly dig for it."

* * *

"So you're one of those guys' sister? We've seen half our guys walk past us against only two men."

"Yeah. I'm not sure what Luca did as a profession over the years because he's currently active duty military but before that, I'm not actually sure. Craig said he was some type of mercenary or assassin. He made a fortune out of that though, claims he's a millionaire and I believe him after seeing the car he drives as well as him offering to pay for the rest of my college."

"Damn, must be cool. All us blokes here grew up playing shooter games and this is the closest we can get to that not including joining the military. I'm actually surprised that one of Craig's co-workers is here, he claims to work with men and women all over the world but he's with the bloody American Navy, best we've got to offer here that I know of is our jovial S.A.S."

Evelynn shrugged, "I've met I think all of them and they've very diverse. The most recent people to be put in Luca and Craig's squadron were Australian, one of em shorter than me."

"Guys! They're in the center building, they just took Johnny out leaving only nine of us wanks left. Both have been hit once!" Somebody shouted from next to the house's front door.

Evelynn and the guy she was chatting with approached the group and listened to what they were planning. "Alright, when you go up the stairs and into that hallway, they're in the left room so grenades should clear them out peace of cake. Evelynn and Liam, stay outside until we're ready, everybody else follow me inside the building."

Evelynn and Liam leaned against the doorway in anticipation for the shots to start going off. Multiple pops could be heard going off on the top floor, presumably one in each room but the call of somebody behind out was nonexistent. The sound of a couple of shots from the first floor clean up crew ricocheted off the walls, two outs following the shots. Two men came storming out the building, talking to each other about how he was nowhere.

"I'll get take a look lad, stay right here in case he wants to climb out one of the two windows." Liam said, walking into the building.

Not even ten seconds had passed by when multiple shots wrung out followed by the two of two grenades popping. She watched as Liam and three other teammates walked out of the building with their hands up, but was surprised to witness a paint covered Craig walk out of the building laughing.

"5 players remaining and the civilians still have Luca to deal with, how will they go about eliminating him?" The overhead announcer boomed.

"Guys, the house is cleared, this Luca guy isn't anywhere to be found." One of the men said as he exited the house. "We checked the underground passage after getting Craig when he attempted to go through it and he wasn't there."

Just moments after he finished speaking, him and the guy behind him were drenched in paint. The two looked around in disbelief that a grenade has gotten them but refused to say a word as they walked to the sidelines in shame.

Evelynn swear she saw movement in one of the windows as her remaining two teammates left the building. Without any hesitation, she shot 10 or so shots through the small opening. To much of her surprise however, there wasn't any retaliation, just silence.

"Aye, birdie. Did you see him? We cleared that entire building, there's no possible way for hims to be in there." One of her teammates asked.

"There's nowhere else he could be th-" Evelynn didn't even get to finish her own sentence when she saw two paintballs fly into the remaining two's backs leaving only her.

"Evelynn!" A voice called from above her. Her head slowly looked up to see Luca pointing his gun at her. "Surrender and accept your loss!"

The girl began to bring her guns barrel up towards her brother but she wasn't anywhere near fast enough. Luca took a single shot, nailing her directly in the collar bone. The operator quickly made his way off the roof when he heard Evelynn swearing repeatedly from the pain of being hit.

Sirens played over the megaphones to signal the end of a game and for the players to group at their tables again for a refill for the next game. Luca quickly made his way down to Evelynn and struck up some conversation. "Next couple of matches are going to be a Team Deathmatch, we'll definitely be using more paintballs as well as being less tactical."

"And I'll get to see you and Craig go head to head because I bet the officials won't let you two be on the same team after a performance like that."

* * *

 **Birmingham, England**

 **3/12/19**

 **12:45 PM**

"So are you and Grace going to stay with me in Denver once you guys get off time for the Fourth of July?"

"That's the plan, I don't really have anywhere else to go so I wasn't exactly planning on going back to the US for Independence Day until you came along." Luca replied scratching his head.

Grace pushed Luca out of the way so he couldn't add a possibly rude comment to his statement, "If we get the time to come to America for the holiday, we'll be sure to stay with you."

"Thank you Grace for the assurance. She's a keeper Luca, plus she's the only person who seems to be able to keep you in your place."

Her brother just rolled his and and crossed his arms as he looked down at her. "I don't need to be kept in my place. I quite frankly enjoy crossing boundaries and limits that most people otherwise wouldn't cross."

"When our in the field maybe," Grace added, "You know better than to act a fool with the rest of us around because you know everybody that works with us aren't afraid to beat you into tip top shape noobie, the only people they can make excuses are Mozzie and Tori, but even then that's just barely since they came from a professionally trained unlike you. You've only been here long enough to know better than to push boundaries that you shouldn't cross." She scolded.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I'm just waiting for our parkour course to be done. I talked to Harry about it recently and he said it's been confirmed and we're just waiting on funding. I'll get to lead all of you guys for that and I'll be the boss for a while."

Evelynn laughed at his sassy response, "Watch, Harry will get a professional so that you would be doing the training rather than teaching it so that you don't get over confident in yourself and get reckless in life."

"All passengers on the flight to Denver, Colorado in the United States, please get ready to board your flight as the plane has just landed and is taxiing to the gate." The overhead announcements spoke.

By the time the three had made their way to Evelyn's Gate, then plane had already parked at the gate to begin unloading both its passengers and luggage as well as getting refueled for the long flight.

"Man, it's going to suck to be back home because I have school, work, all that jazz. This week should have gone by slower than it did." Evelynn sighed.

"That may be the case, but you'll also be much closer to more things as well as getting paid while you work. Vacation is nice and all but it's no longer a vacation once you've been on one for too long." Luca replied, giving his sister a pat on the shoulder.

"Besides, it'll be July in no time. There's a pretty good chance you'll be seeing us extremely soon in your own home and you'll be able to show us there like we did for you, it'll be a blast." Grace said.

"Well it's not just the fact that I don't want to go back to living my old boring life. It's the fact that I only got to spend a week with Luca. It's life changing when you find a sibling years after you first learn to had them." Evelynn said, tears swelling up in her eyes.

Without any warning, the young girl grabbed ahold of the two operators and brought them into a tight hug. Grace instantly returned the hug while Luca hesitated at first before wrapping his own arms around the two. The hug lasted easily a minute or two but they had to break away as it was announced that boarding had started. Luca was the first to break away follow by Grace then Evelynn.

"Guess this is farewell for now Eevee, I hope you have a good flight home, I'll be sure to keep in touch with you." Luca gave his sister a small smile.

"You have my number, be sure to send me pictures while you're up there." Grace proposed.

"I know! Thank you very much you too but I must be going."

The two operators watched as the young girl quickly made her way into the line and handed over her ticket before boarding the plane. For one last time, she looked over and shoulder and gave the two a small, sad smile and a wave goodbye.

"So, how was this week? You lived that last decade thinking you had no blood family left, but now you've had one to hang out with and enjoy for a entire seven days."

Luca sighed, "I'm not sure. I definitely felt younger and more responsible but at the same time, I feel that it doesn't exactly make up for what I lost in my childhood."

"That was your childhood. After all, you said this, and I quote 'The past is something one cannot change. The future however, has yet to happen. What occurs for a person is in their hands and their control.' You also told me not to try and makeup for your past, but to help you have a better future. I'm not one to break promises."

Luca said not a word but instead grabbed Grace's hip and pulled her closer to him as the two watched as Evelynn's flight slowly backed up to begin its journey back to the states.

* * *

 **Thank you everybody for reading and supporting both this story and chapter, but I would also like to apologize because this chapter was mainly just a filler because I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do in this chapter due to every idea I have, I am unable to do until later in the story as they just do not fit in where the story is currently at.**

 **But once again, thank you for reading and feel free to leave a review as all criticism and appreciated and useful. Hope you all have a good day, Ciao!**


	10. Terrorism V Crime

**I apologize with how long it has taken me to update the story and get this chapter out. Since beginning of my Spring Break (The end of March) to probably when this chapter comes outs because it is currently 4/29/19 at the time of me writing this upper portion, I have had an insanely bad cough which I've just been living my every day life with but it had gotten to the point to where most of my upper body was in severe. After going to the doctor, I was diagnosed with bronchitis then in the lower portion of my lungs contains pneumonia. Soooo, yeah. I have been doing my best to write this and get as much done as possible.**

* * *

 **Leicester, England**

 **4/05/2019**

 **12:00 PM**

"Just letting you know Harry, if I get information of any sort of White Mask base, I'm going to the raids whether it's on my own or with a team. Don't care if you fire me for it."

"Just calm down Ghost, I want you to get information out of him, not kill him. Caviera is going to be in there with you while we have Doc and Finka waiting for when medical assistance is needed and Dokkaebi to see if we can get any password to a few thumb drives found on his person. Grace said that the two of you could hack into the files but there was a chance of corruption so we're gonna to try and get in the standard way before you two start beating at it."

"Of course we could hack into the files, it's a thumb drive, there's hardly anything to bypass. Plus we knew it didn't have any malware stored on it right away because why would any White Mask Lieutenant carry that on them in the middle of a raid. But that's besides the point, I'm going in that chamber with Taina and tearing the bastard to shreds."

Without a word more, Luca took leave from his boss and made his way to the interrogation room where the medics, his girlfriend, and fellow interrogator awaited. They gave him concerned stares as he walked by, flipping his knife from it's holster into his hand. His gaze and attention completely voided the surrounding area as he made his way to the room.

"You doing alright Pirelli?" Taina asked as she approached him.

"Just dandy." He replied, unclipping a black mask that with a bloodied skull that faded as it progress from the left side of mask to the right covering it. The operator put the mask on his face as he opened the door.

The White Mask looked up from the book he was reading and smirked. He set dropped the book and tried to move his hands away from each other as much as he could with the handcuffs. "Heh, a Payday member on the right side of the law? Tell me this is a joke."

Luca didn't even wait for Taina to enter the room as he threw his knife at the terrorist. The man's eyes widened in fear as the blade nicked his ear before digging itself into the whiteboard behind him. "Payday is a thing of the past my friend. It's to not be brought up."

"Do they know a major criminal is working for them?"

"They do now, but that's besides the point. You have got information that my pal and I want." He said, motioning towards Caviera who had her signature wear on.

"A hora finalmente chegou, we get to play little one." Caviera said, getting in the man's face. "You have been living free here for too long since the attacks, you're telling us everything you know."

"Fuck you demon woman." He said, attempting to spit in her face.

The Brazilian woman wiped what saliva did manage to get on her before delivering a swift jab to his nose, blood instantly leaking from his nostrils.

"Your actions aren't going to get you anywhere _paneleiro_. We're getting what we want." Caviera cursed, as she grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt before throwing him backwards off his chair.

The woman picked the man up and threw him onto a metal chair that sat across. Before he could fight back, Ghost and Cav strapped his wrists and ankles down as he struggled and squirmed.

Ghost was beginning to getting pissed off from their subject misbehaving, that he yanked a pack of matches from his belt and took every last match out. He looked the terrorist dead in the eye as he lit every match.

"To begin with, that flash drive we found on you. What the password for the files?" Ghost asked as he approached the man.

"Fuck you pig. You're just as evil of a man as I am."

"Wrong answer."

Ghost jabbed that burning matches into the man's hand. Screams of excruciating pain echoed through the small concrete room as the flames melted away some of the skin. Feeling satisfied with his deed, he dropped and matches and stomped their flames and embers.

"Once again, tell us the fuckin passcode so that my girlfriend and I don't have to risk corrupting the files. You'll be making not just our lives easier, but your own if you just comply with what we ask you."

"I'm not going to tell you people shit. The White Masks shall take over the world after we topple governments. These terrorist attacks are nothing."

Ghost and Caviera turned to each other and shrugged. "Hand me a blade please Cav."

Caviera reached for the table she brought in with different types of tools the two could use to get the man to talk. The first sharp object she got her hands on was a scalpel.

"Riddle me this clown, what do humans and platypuses have in common."

"Nothing, they're an amphibian."

"Wrong. We both have webbed fingers. That's the only thing that separates us from you." Ghost said, slicing into the webbing between the man's fingers. Ghost smirked as a pained expression covered his face as he gritted his teeth. One by one, the operator jabbed the scalpel into the small portion of skin followed by yanking the piece of metal back. In total, Ghost had made 4 slits before sitting back, satisfied.

"And the finishing touch." He mumbled as he swung the scalpel down, its blade digging and shredding the thigh of their target. The White Mask screamed from the cold metal as blood from the wound slowly gushed it's way to the surface and stained his pants that beautiful crimson color.

"My partner wouldn't have to be so rough if you fucking spoke. Tell us what you know and all can be done." Cav said, unbuttoning the prisoner's top.

"Don't do anything too rash guys. We need information, so try not to kill the man." Dokkaebi's voice echoed through the speakers.

Ghost rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's comment as he slightly kicked a plastic pedal from the back of seat, lowering the backrest as well as yanking a plug from a drain under it. "Caviera, do me a favor, grab that towel." He said as he grabbed a hose that had been dangling from the ceiling.

The terrorist's eyes widened as the two operators began putting their plan into effect. "Please don't waterboard me, anything but that please!"

Ghost didn't even look at the man as he tested the water pressure, "Tell us what me want then. We'll start out easy. What's your name and what country do you reside in?"

"Omar Turabi, I'm from Multan, Pakistan. I have a wife and two children who are still there."

"Okay Mr. Turabi, what are the codes to access the files."

"I'm not telling you the numbers but I will say it's a five-digit code."

Ghost shook his head and turned. "Wrong answer." He sprayed the man with the high pressure hose for a solid three seconds before turning the nozzle off. "Once again, what's the passcode? That's just the beginning of it, we always have the option of waterboarding you."

He gave Omar some time to cough and get the water out of his lungs having known the effects of different forms of torture and what they can do to a person physically and mentally. "Once again Mr. Turabi, what is the access code. I'm not going to ask you again nicely. I do quite like brute force but I have to restrain myself from the ways I use to work. But if it resorts to that, I will gladly escort my associate from the room and and cover the one way glass to do my deeds."

Caviera shot him a glare at his statement and pushed him away for Omar, "I'll be taking the lead from here until otherwise noted. You can take the lead once we need to waterboard him."

Ghost gave the woman a disappointed look and shrugged, backing off to let the Brazilian woman do her job.

"Alright Omar," She said as she strided up to the tied down man, "Give is the access code into the files. We can get to everything else after that."

The Arabic man gulped in fear as she slowly dragged her knife against his face before stabbing it into an open area between his fingers. "Codes. I can be so much meaner than I am now."

"69284… Please just keep that damn bank robber away, he's fucking insane and has zero regards for human life."

"Then answer my questions and be - fucking - have and you won't have to deal with Ghost. Just keep in mind, I can deal the same amount of damage to your body as he can, I'm just more reserved."

"Yes Ma'am…"

"What is the leader of the White Mask organization's name?"

"Ma'am, I may be a lieutenant but that highest ranked member I've spoke to is his secretary and she doesn't seem to have a name, she's just referred to as the secretary or as any other polite female names or whatever it is called."

"Are you the shot caller? Do you say what place locations are attacked or do you join lead them."

"I help decide with the other lieutenants as well as the secretary where we hit then lead the grunts into the attack.

"Where's the next major attack at?"

"I wouldn't know. Big hits like Big Ben, the Dubai Mall, and that one super yacht since those are the most recent three, are all chosen by the top three commanders and are brought to us to lead. All three we lost every man who went with the exception of me because of you infidels."

Caviera punched him in the cheek as hard as she could, "You will respect me when you speak. You're my bitch currently."

"Damn you demon woman, be glad you don't live in the Middle East. You'd be stoned to death in a heartbeat if you acted like this there." He said, briefly receiving yet another punch to the other cheek.

"Where are your next attacks at that you know of? I know you guys plan ahead, we've seen what goes on in South America with the cartels."

"All the ones I had been informed of before you twat captured me were small jobs with only a few grunts. I'm sure you group of gypsies weren't even called in to help. Local police probably dealt with them."

"Then tell us the locations of the different bases that you guys have hidden around the world."

"No can do lady," he smirked, "I think I've told you guys enough and that you and your buddy Ghost over there leave me be while you try to get into the files y'all found on my body."

"Very well then." Caviera mumbled, tossing the towel on the man's face. "Ghost, have your way with him for a little bit. I think it will put him in his place for when he feels the need to not cooperate with us."

"About time, I was getting bored having to wait for you to try to get him to talk." Ghost said, shaking his head as he got closer to the two.

"How do you think I felt? Here, have the hose."

Ghost happily accepted the hose as he walked past the Brazilian, stopping just a foot away from Omar. "You know it doesn't have to be this way? All you had to do was just work with us and give us what we want. After that, we could have just sent you to prison to live out the rest of your days. But you decided "No, prisons to good for me. I must stay quiet to protect the terrorist organization that has hidden me from reality so that I don't have to face real life.""

"Sir, you h-heard you host's demands… Don't d-do anything rash or that y-y-you'll regret against me. It'll cost you greatly."

"I'm not afraid of what I could lose. You fuck. You deserve every single last drop of everything that is happening or going to happen to you. You destroyed a piece of British history and killed hundreds of innocent civilians. You seriously think that I'm going to face you and fucking think about the consequences of my actions? I'm not fucking scared to do what I please with you. I could care less for my job, it's just what my job does that I care about because I get to fuck with and kill assholes like you."

Ghost positioned the hose over Omar's head and turned the knob as much as he could in one twist. The water jetted out, instantly soaking the entire upper portion of the terrorist. Ghost watched with zero emotion as he waterboarded the man. Seconds felt like minutes, the muffled noise of the terrorist's attempted screams soon dissipated to nothing. Ghost's eyes were a solid void, the bright sparkle he once had maintained was no longer. It took Caviera stepping in and turning the nozzle off before yanking it away from her fellow interrogator.

"Luca!" She whispered harshly into his ear, "What the fucks gotten into you? Help me get this water from his lungs then get out of here and see Harry. He has something to talk to you about." Ghost took a deep breath and walked to the unconscious body of the man he tortured. In one swift move, he pushed as much weight onto the man's sternum as he could and watched as the water shot out of his mouth and nostrils before he began to start to violently cough.

"He's fine. Just get the location of bases we may not know about. I'll be hitting each and every one of them whether Harry lets me or not."

Cav glared at him as he turned to leave the room. "What the hell has gotten into that man? It feels like Bolivia all over again…"

Luca was met with a concerned Harry and extremely worried Grace. The girl instantly wrapped her arms around him as he maintained eye contact with his boss.

"What's on your mind Luca?" You haven't acted like yourself since walking in there. You also normally return Grace's affection when it's given to you but that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. Also you may take the mask off now, you're excused from intimidating the mask now. Caviera has it covered."

Harry's words were met with silence from his operator. "Dokkaebi, stay here. You're in charge until she is done in there. Make sure to have Doc and Finka remove that scalpel in his thigh. Ghost and I shall be having a nice conversation."

Grace nodded and released Luca after a bit of hesitation and slowly backed up from him before turning to watch the rest of the interrogation.

"Now my dear friend, follow me." This military base has a brilliant view and I figured we could go over what's going on in that head of yours. It's always best to share or else it'll get pent up and form many negative emotions. You former boss told me how you acted like this for a little bit when you first showed up but you started to develop a more open personality. There's no documents or psychological profiles for your life since. Everything we know is what you informed her. I'd like to get to know you better, not only get to know you as an operator, but as a person. I know the skills you present but those have nothing to do when it comes to one's mental and emotional health."

"I finished my days as a member ages ago, yet it seems like I am still recognizable from the very few who had witnessed me and lived to the the tale. I guess this man is somebody who had survived one of the heists I lead against them in Payday to get some cocaine for one of our associates, a Russian man around the age of 40 or so."

"That's a good start but this isn't the place to start this conversation, too much security and I cameras. I figure you don't want a base full of soldiers to hear about what you're going to tell me because it sounds like you have quite the history and weren't a hundred percent truthful when you said you always worked alone."

"I worked alone when I was a mercenary, not when I tried getting myself money while I was younger. When do we arrive at the view you are talking about?"

"Okay thank you for the interpretation then, makes my job a whole lot easier. We're almost there, just keep following me. So tell me, what was the reasoning behind that second life you lived? You seem to not be yourself when it's brought up."

"Those men and women I met while I was one of them are some of the greatest I've ever met. They were basically the Rainbow of the underworld, the best the world had to offer for the skill set all in a single place to this day, it astonishes me. I was poor and homeless living on the street when one of the senior members found me and offered me a place to stay and some warm food in return of a special offer. In that point and time of my life, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do while off the radar and he was the first to take me in and teach me how to live my adult life, just in a dirty fashion because it's impossible to play fairly with a payday on the line. It's part of the reason I've became so good at what I've done, they're the group who made me feel included and taught me basically all I know. It's why I'm fairly good all round at every task given to me to date so far"

"I can't complain, you've been rather useful to our organization but I do have one complaint. You refuse to have anything done for you so that you could be a true citizen either here or back in the States."

"They know I'm alive and what I have done and have blood samples. That's all I'm willing to give you guys, I'd much prefer to stay under the radar from all the governments once the White Masks are history. After that, I'll allow you access to me but I'll be roaming the world again."

"You'll be leaving Rainbow after the Masks are gone?"

"Not necessarily. I joined for two reasons. You guys have the same goal as me to eradicate the White Masks and the other was to get me out of jail. Once the Masks are gone, that means I would have completed my own personal task. I'll go roam and do my own thing but you'll have different ways to contact me if my help is needed because you are a counter terrorist unit after all. We weren't brought together for only the White Masks, we've got ISIS and Al-Qaeda to deal with but NATO seems to have then under control pretty well so we've had nothing going on in the Middle East for us since I've arrived."

"Well I suppose," Harry said, leaning against a fence, "But we are here my friend so please do tell me a story about your times with the most notorious group of heisters world wide."

"I'll tell you one heist and one only because this is most likely how the guy recognized me. Anytime we'd go out to do these sort of things, I always had the black faded skull mask. It was what made me me compared to the rest of the clowns. One day while I was in Bolivia however, minding my own damn business and taking all the White Masks that we're helping the cartel, I had found a heavily guarded warehouse facility filled to the brim with cocaine and we had just the guy who'd buy all that dust. But that's really where this story begins…"

* * *

 ** _~Flashback~_**

 ** _Bolivian Wildlands_**

 ** _7/22/2013_**

 ** _4:30 AM_**

Luca sat among the trees, fiddling with his phone looking for all the weak point within the nearby Santa Blanca while he awaited for his fellow clowns.

"Ghost, just a heads up that Dallas, Hoxton, and Wolf are five minutes away, do you have a plan because this heist was your idea after all. Vlad is expecting an ass ton of coke because he had a good amount of buyers lining up."

"Yes Bain, you'll get what you want out of it and I'll get what I want out of it. It isn't exactly going to be easy though, that's why I had you send the ones who are I believe to be our top three. We can start this heist quietly but it'll be impossible to make it out the same way I have an inside man who'll help us escape and get both the White Masks and Santa Blanca cartel off our asses."

"Good, remember what I said though, the coke first, slaughtering every piece of scum in that building second."

"Yes sir, just keep an eye out for us. I have some members of the resistance who said that they'll assist if needed. I've already given you their info so that you can contact them if needed."

"Thank you Ghost, I'll station them nearby to so that they can help and be a distraction for you four to secure the loot, killing whoever you can in the process. I know you're normally a pacifist and against killing the police, but I'm glad this one is different. We finally get to see your gun skills rather than just your hacking skills."

"You do. And you'll be amazed at them because as you know, I was a mercenary the people on could hire to do jobs for them. I have my fair share of action."

While the two had their conversation, a lifted black van with the lights off came to a standstill next The the tree, the back doors opened simultaneously as the three men exited the van before smacking one of the rear panels to signal the driver to leave. With duffel bags filled with armour and weaponry and their masks in hand, they approached the tree.

"Ghost!" Dallas called out, "Are you up there? This is where Bain told us to meet up with you at because this whole hit was your idea!"

"Yeah one moment! I'm on the phone with Bain. I'll be down in a second."

"Hurry your ass up! We're on a tight ass schedule because Bain has got a bank back up in Mexico as well as an MS13 gang clubhouse with loads of heroin for us to sell which if you want in on, you're gonna need to talk to Bain about."

"Hold your damn horses Dallas. I'm coming down now." Ghost cursed as he brought himself down from the upper branches. He handed his fellow member the binoculars he had with him before hanging off the lowest branch and dropping himself down.

"Alright ladies, I've got us an entrance through the sewage pipes, we'll be leaving through one of the sidewalls which the Resistance will be nailing the cartel afterwards. We'll technically be the good guys in this since we'll be absolutely slaughtering gang members, drug smugglers, and terrorists. Says quite a bit about else since we're basically all of those except we have actual standards and morals."

"Come on, get to the point you bloody cock wombler." Hoxton exclaimed.

"Once we enter, we'll be making our ways to the warehouses where they have a shit load of crates filled with pure Columbian and Bolivian cocaine. We'll have to use the forklifts within the compound where I've scoped out a helipad where we shall load them up. In return, Vlad's pilot will provide us with C4 so that we can create and exit for us and a entrance for the resistance consisting of some group called Ghost Recon. They'll be clearing out those who we leave alive. You happy now Hox?"

"Yes you snobbish bastard."

"Least the boy is more level-headed than you are you British bastard." Wolf added.

"You what now? I'll kick your ass you Swedish meatball of a cunt."

"Shut the fuck up you two! Bain promised us Vlad is going to be paying a fortune for this stuff. It's an easy enough job because we know these men are hardly even trained so they are nowhere near being professionals meaning this job should be a piece of cake mixed with a shit ton of blood spread."

"Well let's get a move on then. You told us that we'd be sneaking into the compound first then once we get into the warehouse we can get into the fun part, correct?" Dallas asked.

Ghost nodded, "Indeed. We'll have to move quick though. Vlad's pilot is going to have to probably make multiple runs so that the helicopter doesn't take too many shots."

"Fair enough. Hurry your ass up then, you know where we're entering from. We don't."

"Let's go then. It's about a click north for the entrance and this is as close as we could get to the place without getting them suspicious of us." Ghost said, taking back his binoculars and strapping them to his waist.

The four began their short trek to the sewers which only took ten or so minutes. It was mostly quiet besides some small talk between Ghost and Wolf with the two of them being good pals about the different sort of trouble they got themselves when they first got into this line of work. Most notably were the many different stories on how they had to bribe and turn cops dirty to cover their tracks which most often resulted in the either the termination or death of the officer they made the deals with while the bribes ranged anywhere between a thousand dollars to fifty thousand dollars based on how high a rank they were.

"Quit your blabbering you two, I can you that stanky sewer tunnel up ahead. I assume it's a one way path because here in Bolivia, it seems like there isn't much so the smaller towns nearby probably aren't included in this system." Hoxton said, pushing the two away from each other so he could walk between them.

"Well, yeah. There aren't exactly any towns that are near here so yeah. Of course it's a one way path dumbass."

"Look, Bain flew us out down here because of you. I was told it was a well thought out plan, not one that's been lousily put together. Why do you think we do the jobs for so very few people? Bain, The Butcher, Vlad, The Dentist, bloody hell man. Even Jimmy thinks his heists out and he even helps us with them as well as our own heist and that man is always high out of his mind on cocaine. Says he's living the dream he is and anytime he gets shot, he doesn't seem to notice until one of us yabbos yanks the bullet out and quickly patch him back up, there's way too much adrenaline going through that aussie's body."

"My plan is well thought out Hoxton. I'm just not able to dumb it down to your level. Dallas and Wolf haven't said anything, they seem prepared and know exactly what to expect out of this. I've already told you what I have set up and what to expect. I can't possibly explain it in any other easy way except for shooty shoot them, pew pew those guys, grab and throw powder is flying bowl, boom boom wall, bang bang good guys fight meanie head bad guys."

Wolf and Dallas began to crack up at how Ghost was trying to explain the plan in a way that a second grader would understand to a full grown British man. Ghost had a slight smile covering his face but Hoxton's eyes were filled with rage.

"Alright, calm down Hox." Dallas intervened, us three plus Chains, Houston, and the Dentist helped get you out of prison and we've been searching for the rat who got you in the position for a month now. Since we got you out of the slammer, you've been nothing but a pissed off prick. Change your attitude, even if it's only for tonight."

Hoxton just glared at his fellow clown before shaking his head. "Un-focking-believable… Come on Wolfy, he may be your butt buddy but you probably agree with me that he doesn't have this whole heist planned out as perfectly as he thinks."

"I'll have to disagree with you there buddy. I just think you're an idiot."

"Focks sake… I swear if this goes to shite, I'm not going to be going on any of the heists that you plan. I'd prefer for you to be our behind the scenes hacker since that's where you excel."

Ghost shrugged, "Suit yourself. Just remember that my mindset is always three steps ahead of yours." He said as he lit a road flare see that the four could see while inside the sewers. "It's straight path there for the most part. Just a couple of bends buts once we get to an area where it breaks off into multiple smaller paths, that basically decides where we come out and enter the base at. I don't remember the path to the one we'll be going to but it'll be a ladder I wrapped in reflective tape the other day after they had this place inspected so nobody will be down here ago for a few more weeks."

"How soundproof are we down here to those above? I don't want to be stuff whispering or using comms if we split up to find the correct ladder up." Dallas asked as he put his mask on to literally mask the smell of the sewers.

"You can raise your voice enough for us to hear it, I wouldn't risk yelling though because I know that there are a few already open grates around the area. I don't think they lead to very populated parts of the base but I would much rather prefer us to play it safe rather than sorry. We're playing a dangerous game here."

"If that's the case," Wolf began, "I'll also be putting my mask on. I'll just be using the comms. We don't need to attract any attention to us just yet." Hoxton groaned but did the same, prompting Ghost to lower his mask to his face though it was a thinner and lighter material so it didn't rid the smell from his mind.

The four wandered through every weave and corner the sewer had to offer, swearing to themselves anytime they were forced to walk past a ladder just because it didn't have the tape they were looking for covering its handles. Wolf walked past a dark corner that he didn't think anything about until a small glint of yellow caught his eye. He made his way to it and sure enough, the black ladder was covered in the shiny reflective tape.

"Guys, I found it. When following the main path, follow it to the end and right before you get the to the wall where it splits off into two, take a right and follow that path. There will be a dark area were you'll see a tiny glint of yellow. I'll be waiting."

Minutes seemed to tick by as he waited for his fellow heisters but it didn't take too long for the first member to show up, Ghost lifted his mask as he approached Wolf and the two fist bumped before Ghost moved the mask back into position to use its comms to contact Dallas and Hoxton to confirm they were moving in on their location. The two clowns conversed a little bit, most of it being Wolf asking about why Wolf had been in Bolivia slowly taking out multiple terrorist bases with occasional cartel hits. To Ghost, it was nothing as he just shrugged in response knowing that only Bain knew his reasoning for being in Bolivia. His group knew he wandered through the South, Central, and North America's when he wasn't helping with a heist as if he were in his own world playing god with his life. He was the luckiest after all, no name, no background, no way to track him. To the governments and everybody else chasing him down, they had no tracks to follow. He was just a spirit in the wind. The CIA and these White Masks seem to have understood that as the two called him Ghost anytime the Payday gang had a run in with them.

"Before getting the name Ghost, what did you go by? I know you've said you're a nameless man now dead to the world in the past but you couldn't have just gone without a name for the years before." Wolf asked.

Ghost shrugged, "I went by multiple things. Just depends where I was in the world. The couple of times I was in Europe, I went by Versteckt, German for Hidden because I stalked in the shadows. Down here in South America, I was called Diablo because of what I was willing to do to the human body to get what I wanted. Back North, all of those wouldn't have worked. Canada and America are just too big and plus people there didn't ask questions. If they did, I always had a deck of cards on hand consisting of only Jokers so I'd hand them one of those cards and carry on my way."

"Enough stories you wankers, Dallas and I are here. Let's get this heist going!" Hoxton said, kicking some of the water towards Wolf and Ghost.

"Then stay your ass down here for a moment. I'll go make sure that. I marked the right one and that nobody is up there." Ghost replied before making his way up the ladder.

The man made an attempt at pushing the grate above him up and top the side but could only manage to move it upwards. With a sigh, he straightened out his legs so that his back would hold him in place against the wall. It took some awkward maneuvers and tens of fucks but he managed to loosen to grate enough to fully lift it and push it off to the side so he could peak his head out. Nothing but the lifeless warehouse was in sight.

"Go time boys, get your asses up here and get searching for crowbars. Cocaine is located in most of the boxes already bagged. Vlad wants 20 bags but the man is willing to pay extra for anything else we can get for him." Ghost said, pushing himself up so that the other three could get up.

Dallas was the first one up followed by Wolf then Hoxton. The four split up to cover more ground to find themselves a crowbar so that they could get the large crates. Even though the warehouse was completely empty to their knowledge, they did everything you could to hardly make a step because they weren't sure if cameras would be coming into play or not. Sure, the cameras wouldn't matter in the unavoidable situation later one where all shit breaks loose and chaos ensues, but it would take a small weight off their shoulders for the time they're alone.

"Eureka! Got us six bars boys!" Dallas exclaimed, the sound of the metal bars clicking together coming through the comms, "Get back to where we met up and let's get to work. How many bags of coke do you think we'll be able to fit on those forklifts?"

"I passed them group of them earlier," Wolf said as he made his way back, "Grab yourself a pallet and you can easy get nearly a dozen on so we'll probably only need two unless we get extras. We are all about that extra payday after all."

The four regrouped at the manhole and all grabbed a crowbar before sprinting off to the near crates. One by one, they ripped the wooden tops from their loosely "secured" nails and began yanking the devil's powder filled bags from their prisons.

"Hoxton, bring two forklifts with pallets on them so we can load em up!" Dallas demanded.

Without complaints, Hoxton hurried his ass to the parking portion of the warehouse to get the machinery ready for the real part of the heist. The other three kept going with their manual labor of tearing the crate's lids off and taking the two to three bags of coke out, carelessly tossing them behind them.

Within ten or so minutes, the four had two overfilled forklifts both carrying fifteen or so bags on the pallets. With Hoxton and Wolf in the drivers seats and Dallas and Ghost with their rifles primed and ready, Ghost called for Vlad's pilot.

"Da, I'll be arriving in five. You better have a flare so that I know where to land because it's dark as shit out here." The heavily Russian accented man said.

"Yes, we have one. You better have all that C4 I made sure my contact supplied you with in that bird of yours."

"Of course of course, I have your explosives. These natives are good people, yes they are. Provided me liquor or moonshine or something as well as your bombs. I swear I'll be wasted by the time I leave that compound."

"I don't care what you do after you leave but you better be stable while down here with us."

"Whatever."

Ghost rolled his eyes at the pilot's incompetence, "Alright boys. I hope you're ready for a shootout because as soon as I press the button, it's inevitable."

"Fuckin hit it. Full send." Dallas said, pointing his rifle at the garage door.

"It's basically a straight path the helipad, so do me a favor. No detours." Ghost said, hammering the garage door's open button.

Alarms filled the compound as the door opened revealing nothing more than the four men standing in its opening. Once the two forklifts could fit under the door, they began heading towards their destination. The gun fight they were expecting as soon as the door opened was quite delayed in reality. The different terrorists and cartel members seemed to take their sweet ass time because they heisters had easily progressed a hundred or so feet before they started to get shot at. The four knew that the cocaine was the main source of the two group's income and that they wouldn't shoot at the bags even if their life depended on it so they didn't bother trying to cover or protect the product from the gunfight. Instead, Ghost guarded Wolf as he only had access to his pistol while driving with Dallas and Hoxton in the same scenario. Bullets peppered through all around the four while the two riflemen were dead accurate with their shots. Dallas was a bit more sparing as he would just take out their knees which compared to Ghost who would just put as many damn rounds as he could into their bodies before they dropped dead without any concern of the extra ammunition he had been wasting.

Ghost's attention had shifted from actually transporting the cocaine to the nearby helipad to just killing anybody in his sight. He had three or four light bullets, mainly 9mm and some 5.56 rounds hit him dead in the chest which he hadn't noticed due to the amount of adrenaline pumping through his body and the fact that it didn't penetrate the bulletproof vest.

"Ghost!" Dallas called out over the gunfire, "The helipad is up ahead. Your pilot better be within a few minute out from us or I swear I'll kick your petty little ass myself!"

The man shook his head to bring him back from his blood filled daze. "Uh, right yeah. The heist…" Ghost swapped communication channels to the same line as their pilot. "Hey jackass. We're about to set off the flare. How close are you? We don't have much time and I'm running a bit lower on ammo because dumbass is shooting at anything I see move that isn't in a suit and tie."

"Da. Two minutes away. Hold off an I pick up your drugs in return for those big bombs you requested for big exit and big entrance for those puny freedom fighters."

"Good because we're about to get out of here. They're hardly putting up a fight because they don't want their precious product to get destroyed because their higher ups will tear them to shreds then leave them out for the dead."

"Whatever, I be there soon."

Static took over as Ghost began switching signals back to his squads. "Vlad's man will be here soon," Ghost said once he finally got the right channel, "After we drop the drugs off, we need to hurry our asses to the bordering wall and get the C4s planted and rigged so that we can get the hell out of here."

"Amen to that. These wankers got the aim of a fish but they've got a shit ton of low ranking peasants for us to go have fun slaughtering them. I realized that a South American Stalin commanded these little men." Hoxton responded, shooting a few warning shots into the sky above.

Once the four had made it to helipad with a minute to spare with relative ease. The forklifts were riddled in bullet holes but all the drugs had been missed as well as the only shots that had tagged the heisters hit their vests. It was a small stand off due to heavier armoured men and a few bombers made their way to the four's location in the old Jeep Wranglers and retired American Humvees. Wolf got distract from killing the oncoming bogeys as the chapter neared, but pulled himself back together and started taking the bags off the pallets in preparation to secure them in the chopper.

"Grab the bombs and load my drugs up. We made deal you know." The pilot said, slurring his words as he slammed the chopper down.

Luca pulled the explosives away from the chopper and left his teammates to fend for themselves so that he could get the bombs places before the delivery ended. When Dallas gave a confused look as he yanked the dead body out of the driver seat of a nearby Wrangler, nothing more than a nod was given in response. The vehicle was by no means bulletproof, but it would provide the cover necessary for him to set the charges up in preparation of their grand escape. Ghost lined the entirety of the bottom portion of the wall with the C4 tracks. On the final brick on C4 to help it go off was placed, Luca stood back to admire the line of highly dangerous weaponry. A huge wave of pain from his right shoulder snapped him out of his own thoughts. Without any second thoughts, he felt around his shoulder before finding an area where he could put dip finger in slightly before sighing and quickly hopping back into the bullet covered Jeep, instantly flooring it to get back to his crew. He watched as the Chopper took off as he yanked the hand break, twirling the Jeep a full 180 degrees so that he could get back to their 'exit' without having to waste fine turning.

"Fucking drive!" Dallas shouted as the three hopped over the rear doors and into their seats.

Ghost smirked from behind his mask as he pressed a the little red button he kept in his hand. The sound shot through the night air as smoke and fire journeyed to sky. His reckless driving was slightly paying off as well because shots had only been landing on the steel body as well as him hitting a couple of the terrorist. Corner after corner, more and more Cartel Members and White Masks would try and block the four using themselves, Jeeps, and Humvees but to much of their dismay, they couldn't get any of the roadblocks up fast enough resulting in them always having space to get through.

"Just keep going and you're home free. I didn't some talking with the freedom fighters and this team called the "Ghost Recon." They promised you all a plane to Mexico tomorrow morning after you're done here." Bain's voice echoed through the comms.

"Plane for three, I've got unfinished business here before I go back up north Bain." Ghost responded, slowly pushing the gas further down as the crumbled wall and freedom fighters came into view, "We're going to completely fuck this thing up, but it's well worth it because y'all are going to be getting outta here with a different ride. I have somewhere else in Bolivia I have to be."

"I think you're fucking insane." Dallas shouted as the underbody completely shredded from the rest of the vehicle.

The car could be heard falling out of gear along with the two front wheels rapidly slowing the rest of the vehicle down as they were facing separate directions due to what Ghost could only assume were the control arms snapping. Once the Jeep had came to a complete stop, multiple other civilian vehicles surrounded them with tens of people coming out.

"Payday, we are here to escort you to the nearest airport," A heavily accented man shouted, "And you in the creepy, we need to get you fixed up!"

Ghost got out of the vehicle and made his way to one of the cars with only a single person in it, "I'd love to but I have places to be. I want you to follow your directions though and get those three to Mexico. You'll probably be seeing me around more often because I'm not leaving for at least another month or so. I have got a small date to attend in an hour or so. Emma's boss has gotten her busy in recent times."

* * *

 **I** **apologize about how long this has taken. My illness kind of fucked me up as well as I sort of lost the will to write in long portions so I have slowly written as much as I could. I promise to get the next chapter done sooner, I know this is a romance story so I'm going to base the next chapter around that. Hell, if you're actually reading this, let me know if you want a lemon eventually. I may consider writing one. Thank you for reading and again, I apologize for taking so long to write this.**


	11. To Tame A Phantom

**My apologies for how long it has taken to produce this chapter. I've been having a lack of will to write but I'll pull through it and start pushing chapters out again. I actually have plans that I'm excited for but I'm not there yet storyline wise. They're going to be taking place once the story reaches summer time.**

 **WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER! As promised, the chapter contains smut and content on suitable for those underage unless. It is some pretty good stuff though so you might as well read it anyways.**

 **I hope you enjoyed, reviews and PMs are always appreciated. I'd like to know how I did as I haven't written smut in like 2 or 3 years so rating that would also be appreciated big time. Ciao friends!**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **4/12/2019**

 **11:00 AM**

Despite seeing her boyfriend a few hours ago when they had first woke up, she went up to their room's door and gave it a few knocks hoping for a response. It's been a long week since he had first started acting this way and he refused to show his face unless it was covered by the darkness. She was sure he hadn't even used his voice in that time period either. In her head, she was begging and pleading that he'd answer to go to lunch with her but to her avail, no response came from the room.

"Luca… I know you are still in there, please just come out and enjoy some lunch with me. I know you've only been eating whenever I either leave the food by the door or when you go get it yourself with your mask on."

Nothing came from inside the room. She knew that the door wasn't locked and that she had full access to him but something within her told her that it was just better to leave him be and that he'd prefer the alone time but this had been going on for longer than any other times previously. Grace frowned at the door before sitting down with her back against the door. She was alone with her thoughts, all of which was nothing except for negativity. It was truly taking its toll on her, she wanted to break down and just cry to her heart's content before going into hiding from the world. She buried her face into her arms as the tears began to swell up in her eyes. She had gotten use to Luca being so open and willing around her that it's just emotionally damaged her to see his state of mind get worse than how he was when he had first showed up to Hereford. Not a peep escaped from her as the tears slowly dropped onto her lap, the upper floors of the base were dead silent for the time being.

Quiet footsteps from the stairwell printed Grace to look towards the noise and to wipe her tears. The first thing Grace saw slowly coming up the stairs was purple hair giving the Korean a pretty good idea who it was.

"Yes Ela?"

"What's wrong Grace, why are you sitting here alone all sad?" The polish woman asked, offering a hand.

Grace hesitantly accepted her help and grabbed Elsa's hand who helped pull her to her feet. "It's nothing Ela, I'm just stressed."

"I'm sure you are but I know that's not all. Come, take a walk with me. Let's find out what's really going on."

"Where to?"

"I don't know, I didn't expect to get this far." Ela shrugged.

"What do you mean? Was this planned but expecting it to not work?"

"Sort of. Jordan sent me up here to help you since he says that personality wise, I'm the female version of Luca so I could maybe explain to you what's going on, what is wrong with him, and what is he thinking. We should probably go to Jordan's office though, he said he'd be meeting Gustave in there about something and he's also a licensed therapist so that could help."

The Korean woman rolled her eyes but decided to play along with the American's plan. Ela and Grace chatted about Luca's recent behavior as they made their way to their higher-up's office and how different things could have possibly affected Luca in a negative way. Their talk abruptly ended as they approached the cracked open door of Jordan's office.

"Knock knock, I assume you two are in here still?" Ela asked.

"Gus and I are here, come in Elżbieta. Did you bring Grace with you like I asked?"

"Yes and if you call me that again, I'm going to knock your teeth out." Ela responded as she pushed the door revealing Jordan behind his desk with three chairs in the other side, 2 empty and the other with Gustave in it.

"Feisty as always, it's what Harry loves about you and continues to allow you to be the best operator you can be."

"Whatever you say American. Can I go now that I got Grace for you?"

"Non," Gustave said, "Come, sit with us. I understand there is still tension between you and your sister and I believe that can be helped here as well." He added as he patted the chair to his right.

"No."

"Ela, I can take you off the roster to go on these raids. It's up to you."

The polish woman glared menacingly at Gustave before taking a seat followed by a small mumbled under her breath swearing at the base's doctor.

"Grace, you may sit too my dear. This conversation was originally for you because of how Luca has been acting recently. Harry has brought it to my attention and it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."

"I understand but I don't know what we could do. I've done everything I could thought of. I've ever gone as far as to penetrating the firewall of his computer to try and find even the smallest of hints and clues Gus." Grace said, taking a seat with the others, "Jordan. I honestly don't know what to do. This is killing me, I've gotten so use to what he had became, but now he's what he warned me of what he use to be."

"Calm yourself, tell me how he's been acting while you're around. We already know how he is around the rest of us as we have gotten reports from the other operators as well as checking camera feeds." Jordan asked, pulling out a pen and a clipboard with an empty sheet of paper on it."

Grace's eyebrow rose but decided not to question why Gus and Ela we're here for this but she decided that it would be better if she just didn't question it.

"Uhm, I guess I should begin when this started, huh?

The American nodded so she continued after a small sigh, "It was after he had interrogated Mr. Turabi. Something said had triggered something in his head and changed him into the man he once was as if it were some traumatic experience for him. He opened up to speak to Harry but as soon as he went in to finish the interrogation, he kept the mask on and was really aggressive when he was actually speaking."

"Has he spoken to you at all and if so, what was his attitude like? Was he soft and gentle, more carefree and outgoing like he always in around you, or was he rude, sly, and unforgiving?" Gustave asked leaning in.

"Uhm, he hasn't actually spoken to me since that day. But anytime I see him during the day with his mask covering his face, I see nothing but a void in his eyes. Emptiness sucked up all feeling he has with that mask on. Every night though, he turns the lights off before taking his mask off. He'll get in bed with me and bring me into a tight hug where I'm close enough to see his face after my eyes adjust. All I could see in his expression was pain, regret, and a lack of will to do anything. It looked like he was internally screaming for help but his voice just wouldn't work so he was left to suffer in his thoughts with no way to communicate with the outside world. I've offered to help fix the problems he's been having but they're far more severe than I would have though because he just never accepted it. I'd get a blank stare in return or if we were in bed, he'd just hold me closer and tighter to him."

"He's too bold to accept help. He's fighting his own demons like I had to." Ela whispered Grace's way.

Jordan leaned back in his chair with a slight smirk covering his face. "Hold something for ransom to confront him. It worked for Zofia when her and Ela here refused to get along and would constantly butt heads. It actually got Ela to listen and stop being so hardheaded."

Ela went to stand up and grab him by the collar but Gus had foreseen her actions and already had his arm out to block her. The Texan shot her a toothy grin before continuing with his idea.

"What do you know he'll follow you for to get back? I doubt he'd care if you took his phone as you guys trade phones all the time it seems seeing as I always see him with a pink and white phone. The only other things I could think of are potentially his laptop since that's where most of his hardware is stored there, or his car. Whichever you'd consider he likes more. I'd say use yourself and distance yourself away from watching distance and to stop trying to communicate with him, maybe flirt with some other operator, but that would be a severely dick move and as a man, I recommend never doing that because it'll break him."

'It would be best if she doesn't emotionally abuse him using that." Gus shrugged.

"Just take his car, he's out driving when he has free time whether it means bringing you out with him or not. He has been teaching you to drive it after all." Ela suggested, crossing her arms just wanting to get out of this situation.

Grace looked over to Jordan who just shrugged and reached into his pockets. He dug around in them for a moment before pulling out a key ring. "I took these so he couldn't run off while in this state of mind as we wouldn't be able to track him down even is he led us to the end of the earth. Now get going. I believe Gustave and I have something to talk about with Ms. Ela here."

The Korean girl gave a concerned look to her fellow operator before standing up and leaving to head to the the parking lot. On her way there, she was swinging the keys by the loop on her finger while thinking about how she could get Luca out of his room without having to physically do it herself. As she approached the car, a thought came into her mind followed by a sly smile forming on her face. Grace pulled her phone from her pocket and told Siri to dial up Luca and to put him on speaker. The phone rang for a good half a minute before being replaced by a simple silence.

"Hey Babe, I figured you've been looking for your car keys for the last week. Well I found them and I'm currently at the Viper right now in fact and I'd love to go on a little cruise with you. If not, I could take her out of a little joyride."

A small sigh came from the phone before it hang up. Hoping that she had gotten her point across, she got in 'Naraya' and started the car up, giving the car a few revs to remind her boyfriend that she did indeed after the vehicle. A few minutes passed by and her hope of Luca showing up was starting to die down but thank fucking god, a man in black shoes, black shorts, and a black t-shirt to go with his faded skull mask. Grace smiled at her boyfriend and waved to him as he made his way to the car. He gave nothing in return except silence and a stare as he sat down and closed the door. She quickly connected her phone to the Bluetooth and began playing her playlist filled with all the different songs Luca told her about that he loved before driving off to Hereford's own little town.

 **30 Minutes Later...**

The two had walked around the town with minimal speech if you didn't include Grace's couple of attempts to get her boyfriend to speak with her. He was at least willing to hold her hand as they walked around to make things less awkward as he was already getting a plentiful share of weird looks, stares, and people pointing as they passed by. Grace tried to take him into all the different stores and even a restaurant to see if he was interested enough in any of them but it was worthless, the boy wouldn't budge once they were a few steps from the entry points of the different entrances of each building.

"Come on, I know that you don't want to do anything and that you came so that you could see your car but please go in the buildings with me. As long as you're with me and don't touch anything, they won't suspect you to be a robber unless you've been up here and that Payday mask of yours is gonna get you in trouble."

Her boyfriend shook his head and squeezed her hand a little harder. She also noticed his breathing had gotten a little heavier from inside the mask. She quickly shuffled him to a nearby bench and sat him down, forcing him to look into her eyes.

Grace sighed, "Luca please just take off the mask. I haven't gotten to see your face in the light since you interrogated the Mask we had captured. You're acting like Chul before he slightly opened up to the rest of the world. Please don't go back to the old stoic killer version of yourself that were when you first arrived here. Whatever is on your mind, tell me about it. I brought you out of the base and into the public so that you wouldn't have to hide yourself from the people you know and care about..."

"I'd rather not burden you with my own problems. They're mine to deal with, not yours. I don't want you to stress over them."

"You having to deal with you problems on your own is causing me stress Luca! I'd be much more comfortable if you'd just allow me into the shell you've built around yourself."

"I can't do that."

That answer agitated Grace. This was the most she had gotten him to talk in the past week and she wasn't going to let it end there. The Korean women grabbed her boyfriends hand and led him to a nearby bench where the two sat down. Grace held his face in her hands and looked him directly into his hollowed eyes. Tears started to swell in her eyes the longer she stared into Luca's hollow eyes. Without any second thought, she positioned her left hand to grab the mask and slowly lifted. What was once stubble had slowly grown into a short beard and accompanied by large black bags under his eyes.

"Luca. What's on your mind? You aren't you right now…"

His eyes widened as he stared into his lover's own saddened eyes. Luca wiped the tears from her eyes. "He knew who I was Grace. Not as the man who single handedly took on their whole terrorist organization either. He knew me for my sins, the crimes I committed and probably the attacks I combined with my person sins I did against the Masks. That means he had a connection with Payday. He was one of us, he was apart of . We can't let him leave the walls of that base unless he's in a body bag."

"He won't be leaving. Trust me, and if he does, I'll talk Harry into letting you hunt the man down and I'll be right by your side doing it Luca. You have nothing to worry about, I just want you to go back to being yourself and not Chul."

Luca took his mask from his girlfriend's hands and set it in his own lap before burying his head in his hands. "I'm sorry Gracie, I'm just worried man. I want to forget my past, it haunts me everyday because I was never a person who cared for others. I did everything at my own greed." His muffle voice said, "I may not have killed innocent people, but I helped multiple groups who did. It wasn't only Payday."

"It's okay Luca. It's all in the past, Harry has already look passed it and has accepted the you've redeemed yourself. Besides, I bet the government doesn't know your history. They just know you for your attacks on the White Masks," Grace told him as she pulled him into a hug, "It's all in the past, you're a new version of yourself that's much for sympathetic and concerned for the lives of others. You've thrown yourself into scenarios most would not just to protect a few lives. But today isn't a day for you to look back into what you've considered your own sins, I brought you here for you to enjoy the present, to love what you've become."

"All for what reason?"

"Do I need a reason to want to bring the one I love somewhere?"

"Sometimes. You obviously had something planned for me to start speaking again. I'm sure Jordan put you up to it."

"Jordan originally said let you do your own thing, that you'll find yourself eventually. This was my choice, not anybody else's. After one long week, I was starting to face insanity it felt just watching you become the spirit of our base." She lied.

"A spirit? I'd say a walking corpse if anything. A spirit would be more like an old friend of mine, a Danish woman by the name of Nøkk. Odd gal but she was in the same ship as I was years ago. She used her silence as a strength however. I couldn't do the same."

"Whatever, you know what I meant." Grace sighed, "I just want you to have a good time and to spend some of it with me again. I've missed you and have been worried to death."

Luca's head rose from his palms as he grabbed the mask from his lap. "I'll take it off once we get home, it helps me think which is why I've rarely taken it off."

"We're in public and you can be stopped for wearing a mask if it's suspicious enough, especially since you've got a pistol sticking out of your waistband that's easily noticeable even though it's under your shirt."

He ignored her comment and pulled out a set of AirPods from his pocket before handing them to Grace. She shot him a questioning look before putting them in. "Thank you, I have a built in microphone in here so that I don't sound muffled. This was my heist mask and I've thought about using it for missions since I haven't done so yet."

Grace glared at her boyfriend which he just shrugged off, "I'm hiding that mask of yours when we get back to base and we're going to clean you up a bit since you obviously haven't shaved in a while."

"Okay, Whatever makes you happy wifey."

"And if we get in trouble because somebody notices your pistol, I'm gonna resort to full Korean and let them detain you for being an ass since I know you'll be out within five minutes."

"Yeah yeah whatever. So what do you want to do? You made the offer to leave base so it's up to you what we do while we're here."

"Haircuts, you need one pretty damn badly and I need mine shortened then I want to try a new hairstyle rather than it just being down of braided."

Luca scoffed, "When did you become a mother?"

"After you worried me sick smartass. I don't know what's even going through your head when things get shitty because you refuse to communicate with anyone for the rest of the day." She responded, not caring enough to look his way as she grabbed his and and stood up, yanking him along with her.

She heard him mumble a swear as she pulled him off his feet but decided to just leave it. For the first couple of minutes, she could tell that she had to drag him for the first couple of minutes before he actually began to willingly start walking next to her. The couple would get occasional looks from confused passerby's but two ignored it and Grace eventually just wrapped her arms around Luca's left arm to stay as close to his side as she could. For the most part, they had just been silently walking together around the small outdoor mall Hereford to find a barber shop.

Luca was persistent and extremely adamant when it came to staying away from the barber as anytime they passed by one or saw a sign, he was able to either talk her out of certain ones of distract her from the others. Time ticked by as he had kept conversations moving as well as keeping Grace busy. They had actually been stopped by a security guard asking about the mask who thankfully didn't notice the handgun that they managed to get him to leave them alone. Luca wanted to drive his baby oh so badly but couldn't due to his girlfriend having the keys so when it was time for dinner, she got to choose where they'd stop for some grub on the way back to Hereford.

Back at Hereford, a few operators waved towards Luca noticing his mask was off which he returned the gesture with a slight nod of acknowledgement as he just wanted to get to his room so that him and Grace could get to work since they had eaten at the restaurant since he refused to let her eat in his car, especially while she was driving.

"Room is unlocked, I expected to come back if that surprises you at all."

"Yes, It does surprise me. Everybody here at the base expected you to run off and do everything in your will to prevent us from finding you."

Luca scoffed, "I'd never, you're here and I have nowhere in Europe to go as I have no idea about anything here except for where I've already gone to. I'm sure you guys plus the SAS would me with ease if I was in London, Bristol, or Birmingham before throwing me into prison maybe once and for all depending on the jail status here."

"They could hold you with ease tough boy. Your parkour and sneakiness won't help you much in concrete walls. But that's besides the point, let's just fill out the paperwork and filing we have that I sort of just let stack up. We could finish it in an hour with ease."

"Then we should get to it." Luca said walking through the door, holding it open for Grace.

She happily accepted the offer but pushed him away to his desk where all the papers were so she could close the door herself and lock it. "You get to do the paperwork Mister, I get to do the digital portion because you've been naughty and misbehaving."

Luca rolled his eyes and sat at the desk to start scanning through the papers, signing different areas, highlighting important details, and writing notes and summaries on all the different factors of the interrogation, mixed knowledge and information given. Grace on the other hand was laying on her boyfriends bed using him as a leg rest. She was mainly data mining through the the information the thumb drive had to offer as Harry instructed her not to touch it until Luca was near to potentially assist if need be.

"You know," Luca mumbled as he scanned through one of the documents in front of him, "This side of being on rainbow is shitty. I hate the paperwork side of things and I wish we hired people to that."

"Oh well, it's part of the job. Just get halfway through that since I'll finish this first obviously and we can take a break before continuing the rest."

"No offer for help? How rude of you."

"Say that again and you aren't getting the present I was planning on giving you."

"When did bribes come into this?"

"This isn't a bribe, this is a gift for returning to me after a long ass week of silence. I missed you and decided that this was the best way to prevent you from returning to that state of mind."

"Whatever it is, it better be good because this shit sucks. I've been putting it off too." Luca groaned as he continued working on the stack of papers.

The world's longest hour to Luca was nearly over and he was close to halfway done with the stack. Grace on the other hand had gotten every little bit of data from the hard drive so she spent most of her free time teasing her boyfriend as he worked, occasionally poking his gut, legs, or flicking his ear in a playful manner. He wasn't bothered by it but he was bothered by the fact that she had free time to do whatever while he was stuck working.

"Alright, I'm done for now. I'm taking a break." He announced, standing up from his seat.

Grace took the opportunity to grab him by the shirt and yank him onto the bed, quickly scrambling to get on top of him while he was still dazed. Within second, she had yourself position on his pelvis and managed to pin his arms next to his head. The girl leaned in and planted a light kiss on the love of her life's forehead, "So, any guesses of what your present could be?" She ask through her seductive smirk.

"I'm guessing we're going to make out and get oh so rudely interrupted by Gustave again." He joked.

"Close except we aren't going to be caught again." She whispered in his ear.

Grace made sure to put on a nice little show as she slowly and tantalizingly stripped her tank top from her body, throwing the clothing onto his face. By the time he had removed it from his face, Grace had already moved in to connect their lips in a blissful kiss. Unlike their first makeout session, this one was filled with passion and love. Luca tried forcing his tongue into her mouth but she blocked it with her teeth.

"Nuh uh uh pretty boy, I get to choose what happens when." She said after backing away for oxygen, "Lumina, play Luca's Soft Rock Playlist." She commanded.

Purple by Pop Evil came on almost immediately as the words left her mouth. Grace didn't hesitate to undo the back of her bra while she was up, throwing it too the other side of the room. Luca's eyes widened at the sight of her breasts as his face reddened at the speed of light. The Korean girl mentally giggled as she could feel his bulge growing underneath her.

"What? Is somebody excited to see my breasts? They're only B cups, you shouldn't be too happy about that." Grace pretended to sass the boy, "Oh but even then, they aren't yours to touch or play with. Yet"

She lowered herself once more and began to suck on his neck, wanting to show the world that he was hers and nobody else by covering him in hickeys. Grace noticed herself slowly go from sucking his skin to slightly licking tiny portions of his neck, ear, and face. Luca took advantage of what she was doing and stuck his tongue out in a teasing manner as a distraction. Grace happily took the bait and licked his tongue before pulling him into a kiss once more. As their tongues battled for dominance within their mouths, she let go of Luca's arms to start lifting his shirt. Luca helped her once she got it to neck neck as they broke their kiss up to take the piece of clothing off. Almost immediately after the shirt came off, his hands were on her hips, pulling her chest closer and lower to his face.

"I think I've been teased long enough by these beauties."

Grace gasped as he began to grope and caress her left boobs while simultaneously sucking on her right tit. His tongue swirled around the nipple, giving it occasional flicks. Timing was key as he'd pinch her other nipple at the same time as when he would gently nip the other tit in mouth. Once satisfied, he swapped breasts and repeated the process.

"You're very excited you know, how long has been it since you've done anything like this?" Grace asked.

Luca stop sucking on her nipple to reply, "Easily three or more years, no foreplay either when I did." He said, going back to suckling her body.

"Well judging by this," Grace said, rubbing his bulge with her ass, "I think tonight is going to be a fun night."

She pulled her breast away from her boyfriend causing him to pout but she ignored it instead beginning to start trail of kisses starting from his neck all the way down to his waist line. Rather than taking his shorts and boxers off one by one, she just reached into his waistband and pulled the pair off at once to reveal her prize. For being only 6 foot on the dot, he was pretty good size at 7 inches. She took his member in her hand and slowly began to stroke it.

"For somebody who is always trying to be so serious, I'm amazed you haven't tried making a move on me earlier and that I had to initiate it."

"Because you're generally a good and innocent girl. I'd feel bad if I was the one trying to start it."

"Oh so you're saying that I'm too cute and innocent to be naughty? I'm the one in control her my little man, I get to decide what happens." She stated before engulfing his entire shaft in her mouth.

Her tongue ran rapid trying to cover every inch of his shaft before circling the tip of his penis. Her head slowly raised before going back down to begin the bobbing process. She wanted him to have the time of his life and to relax rather than stay on edge more often. Luca rested a hand on the back of her head as she bobbed along his length, her tongue scathing every surface but it's main focus was just the tip where he could get the most pleasure possible out of it. Her tongue dipped into his tip, a salty taste covering the end of her tongue. She looked towards her boyfriend who's eyes were closed as he released fast paced breaths. Grace released his member from her mouth and gave it one last long lick.

"Did you really think that this was it and that I was going to finish here? We're going all the way pretty boy." She smirked.

Grace got off the bed and turned around so that her ass was facing the partially dazed American behind her. Her hips swayed seductively as she lowered her sweats past her ass, letting them drop to her feet afterwards. She bent over as far as she could while still maintaining balance as she slowly shed her panties, revealing her own parts to her man. Once fully nude, she kicked the clothes to the same pile the rest of their clothes ended up.

"I hope you know that I do expect you to return the favor." She said, climbing onto his chest.

Luca's patience was dwindling so rather than letting her do her little tease, he grabbed her asscheeks and used them to pull her forward so that she could rest on her own legs while he did his job. With zero hesitation, Luca's tongue glided over her slit, from top to bottom for ending with him rimming her slightly. Knowing that he'd want to save her clit for for, his tongue shot into her crevices, starving for the flavor her caverns had to offer for him to explore. Her juices were for the most part sweet and could have actually sufficed as a treat on its own. Above him, Grace released soft moans as her tongue stuck out from her mouth. Thankfully enough for him, his arms were free so he used his right hand to grope and caress one of her breasts while sticking his thumb from his free hand in her mouth so she had something to suck on rather than potentially drool on him. He continued to lick circle in her vagina, occasionally leaving it to either rim her slightly or to get a cheeky flick on her clit which would cause her to gently bite down on his thumb. As time slowly went by, his tongue was able to feel her pussy getting wetter and wetter. A sly idea infested itself in his head as he stopped licking her cavity to move to stimulate the most sensitive area of his body, and he wasn't planning to be gentle. His took her clit in his mouth, flicking it constantly as he'd nip it with his teeth forcing her to make an attempt to release loud moans. Her legs slowly began to shake in anticipation or her upcoming orgasm. Rather than nipping her clit one last time, he bit it with his canine just enough to make Grace scream into his thumbs, he quickly lowered himself again and lined his mouth up with her pussy and stuck his tongue into the warm cavern once more. The fluids first came as a slight drip into his mouth before turning into a small to moderate stream. He made sure to swallow every drop of her lovely juices he received. Luca removed his thumb from Grace's mouth as she shakily moved back to where his dick was pressed against her back.

"Are you sure you're able to go on love? I think that's enough for today."

"W-well, I d-disagree" Grace managed to get out in between breaths.

"Whatever you say dear, I don't want to be the one to break you because I have more energy."

"That's only because you forced me to cum. You're turn to cum now because my body is as thirsty as ever now for your seed."

She sat over his shaft, allowing the tip of his dick to rub against her clit as she slowly grinded it.

"Take your time, don't charge ahead while you're still a bit weak from me." Grace stared her boyfriend dead in the eyes slamming herself down on him. "Or not…"

"Put your arms off to the side and enjoy it. I can almost guarantee that you've been hoping for this since we've gotten together." She demanded, slowly beginning to bounce on top of him.

Luca took her advice and put his hands behind his head, ready for when he has to take control of the situation. Grace started out slowly so that she could regain the strength in her legs to speed up. She had wanted him to finish inside her most of all, she had been taking birth control for the last few weeks knowing that this very moment would be approaching rapidly. Her moans weren't quiet either by any means and she was begging in her mind that the music was enough to drown them out as the walls weren't soundproof. Every time she bottomed out, she could feel the love of her life's cock hitting her womb. As much as she wanted to speed up, her weakened legs kept to their pathetic state. His girth combined with his length didn't help her situation either as it was just too pleasurable. Grace had begun to force herself up while riding him, her legs had been shaking violently from her previous orgasm mixed with the ongoing pleasure she was facing.

Luca noticed that she was struggling to straddle him so he decided to finally take things into his own hands. He waited for Grace to come down one final time before leaning forwards to pull her down to his chest, quickly rolling the two off the bed while he was still deep within her.

The American grunted slightly as the two landed on his back. "We have more space down here and I think I deserve to be the one in control."

Grace pouted at the turn of events but didn't refuse his offer. Luca removed himself from her body and brought her down next to him on the ground. Brought one arm under her waist so that he could play with her tits while simultaneously using his other arm to lift her left leg up to allow him access to her awaiting vagina. He peppered the back of her neck in small kisses before beginning to gently graze her ear with his tongue. Without warning, he inserted the tip of his dick into her vaginal cavity. With how wet she was, her tightness was no problem to overcome as he slid in with relative ease. Before continuing, he grabbed his phone from on top of the desk and quickly jacked the volume up to prevent the others from eavesdropping on their love session. He made sure to start humping her gently to hear her soft and cute moans before deciding to speed things up. The volume of Grace's moans increased as his speed did.

His hips were bucking to fuck her like an animal because he was in control now. He didn't have to take her to a limit like she has planned for him so that he could suffer and finish himself later on in the day. Luca's hand that had been groping and pinching her boobs and gotten a different idea as he slowly lowered his hand on her body. He stopped right above where he penetrated her, his hand hovering above her clitoris. He slowed his thrusts down to a loving speed as he gently squeezed and pinched the most sensitive part of her body. Grace's moans easily rivaled those from when she was being fucked relentlessly just a few minutes before. That excited Luca, he wanted to hear her being fucked into absolute bliss. He wanted to tell her that he was going to speed back up but kept his mouth shut and instead slowly started to regain his speed that he had previously. Moans had nearly turned into screams by the time he was up to his originally speed, to attempt to muffle them partially, Luca had his leg under her leg to keep it up and covered her mouth with his now free arm. With each thrust, his dick would begin to twitch more and more.

"Gracie my sweetheart… I'm getting close to cumming." Luca grunted as he thrusted himself deep into her perfect body.

Despite being a moaning wreck, Grace managed to remove his hand from over her mouth and said "Cum inside me… Ahhhh! Don't worry, I won't get pregnant!"

Luca was honestly happy about the response he got as her interior just felt too damn good to pull out. His hips kept pounding away instinctively as he played with his clitoris, he had no plans of stopping until he filled her with with his own fluids. A minute passed by as he kept his fast pace up while sitting on the verge of blasting his cum into the girl he loves until he just could take it anymore. Too minimize the risk just in case, he pulled out till just the head of his cock was twitching inside Grace as his white fluids filled her. Once he couldn't feel any of his semen dripping from his appendage, he slowly pulled out which in turn allowed his cum to slowly leak from Grace's pussy. With what strength she had left after their sweaty sex session, she caught what cum had leaked from within her in her hand before licking her fingers and palm clean.

"Well, I guess it's shower time now?" Luca asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"We're… fucking in the… shower if I can still… stand…" Grace got out in between her deep breaths.

"Well you stay there then while I get a nice warm shower going." He said as he stood up, leaving to head to the bathroom to start up the shower.

Grace took some of her new found free time to let her legs rest as well as to lick up the rest of the cum exiting her. She was a fan of the way he tasted, it started off with an almost sweet flavor and ended off with a tiny dose of salt. She considered fingering herself while waiting for her boyfriend to return but decided against is to instead try and at least stand. As much as she was ashamed in herself for losing control, she was mighty proud that with a little bit of support from Luca's desk, her extremely shaky legs could hold the rest of her weight up. The korean girl held onto her boyfriend's desk while waiting for him to return.

It wasn't long until Luca emerged from the bathroom, his expression from casual to surprised when he saw Grace somehow standing on her shaky legs.

"Do you need help walking love? I can carry you if you don't want to use your legs." He offered.

Grace pouted before nodding her head, "Yes please even though I want to be a little independent."

Luca wrapped her arm around his shoulder and forced her other arm to let go of the desk. "Shall we go then?"

Using her free arm, she grabbed his dick and slowly began to jack him off. "Now we can go. You need to stay hard for at least a while longer. I have two requests I need you to do to me."

"Whatever you say my queen." He replied, letting her do her thing as they made their way into the glasses shower. The American made sure to close the door behind them as soon as he could feel the hot water pelting his skin, "So what's your idea for me?"

No response came from his girlfriend. Instead. She propped herself against the glass wall and opened her mouth when her head was at the perfect height for his dick to fill her mouth. She became a bit agitated when she received nothing but a confused look, "Fuck my mouth for Christ sake."

Luca didn't hesitate as he positioned himself to where his dick was resting on her tongue just centimeters away from her open mouth. Not wanting to lose his balance, he wrapped his hand around her head as he pushed his cock into her mouth. He refused to stop until his entire length was in her throat. Quiet sounds came from Grace as his dick rubbed against the back of her throat. Before any negative effects could get to her, he pulled himself out to about half his length so that she could get some air in her system before thrusting himself back in. His dick moved effortlessly in her soft cavern, her saliva and rough tongue feeling like heaven on the underside of his shaft.

"Fuck Grace. I'm not sure why you wanted seconds but I'm not one to complain." He moaned, his thrusts slightly speeding up.

Grace knew he had the stamina to go for a while so after around 5 minutes of him fucking her face, she pushed him back before he could thrust one more time. "Considering the first session made me extremely unsteady, this should finish the job." She said, standing up. The Korean girl pressed her body against the fogged glass door and used her hands to spread her cheeks for her man. "Go a little higher this time, there's always a first for everything."

Luca grabbed her hips and lined himself up with her rear hole, "Are you sure about this? This isn't exactly the best place to try anal because you aren't exactly lubed up."

"That may be the case but you're extremely lubed up, plus we have plenty of water if needed. Now fuck my ass Luca."

The American was gonna say something but changed his mind. He poked her asshole to tease it a little before forcing himself inside starting with just the tip. Her tight hole encased the of head his dick. Luca was amazed at just how warm this part of her body was and didn't hesitate to push the rest of his length into her tight hole. Grace on the other hand was a moaning wreck, her eyes were crossed and her tongue was partially out of her mouth. He started out slow so that he could get use to her rectum's tough texture and tightness surrounding his dick. Luca pumped his dick in her ass, kissing the back of her neck gently with every thrust. When he had first started, he'd only push around half to three fourths of himself in after first going balls deep so that he wouldn't hurt her but from the amount of pleasure and her moans that was close to being loud enough to be considered screams, he didn't care anymore. The American rammed his full length into his lover's ass, pounding away using her saliva and the shower water as lubrication. His testicles would slap her vagina anytime he pounded her just increasing the pleasure.

Grace's legs started giving out mid session so wrapped one of his arms around her stomach and had the other in her crotch so that he could finger her soaked pussy as he fucked her asshole.

He fucked her using as much strength as he could, his orgasm edging in on him as time went on. Rather than telling her when he was about to cum, he decided it would be best for him to surprise her with it.

"Lu… ca!" Grace moaned, "Finish wherever, oh fuck it feels so damn good! Finish… wherever you want to babe…"

"With pleasure." He replied, some of his cum spurting into her anal cavity before he pulled out to let the rest splattered onto her lower back and ass cheeks.

Luca removed his fingers from his lover's vagina and licked the clean before gently setting her against the wall on the shower floor after using the shower water to get his seed off her back.

"Don't worry babe, I'll get you all washed up then we can sleep the night away together."

* * *

 **As promised, I wrote a lemon for you all to enjoy to make up for the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed, feel free to leave a review or to send me a PM containing your thoughts and opinions. Until next chapter though, I hope you all enjoy your day.**

 **Ciao**


	12. Killing You Is A Bonus

**Behold, the long awaited chapter 12 is here and in the flesh!**

 **But in all honesty, I do apologize for the wait to get the chapter out since it has been like, what? 3 months now or 4 months since I last posted the previous chapter. But on the brighter side of things, I did enjoy most of my Summer break. I didn't have the stress of writing on my back which was nice but as school is coming up starting Tuesday, I have pushed to finish this chapter out. In my eyes, it is pretty mediocre and normal about shit that is expected in the R6 universe. It would also be part of the reason the story was on hiatus, because I had gotten bored writing this chapter.**

 **But, it is out now for you to read. I promise that the next couple of chapters you will all enjoy because I had planned it all out rather than winging it like I normally would do.**

 **I hope you all enjoy and thank you for sticking around.**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **5/22/2019**

 **12:00**

"So we're finally hitting all the locations that Taina got out of him while I was gone?" Luca asked Harry who was currently scanning over different activity reports.

"Yes, that would be correct my friend. Now that you're in fighting condition, we have three locations to hit so we'll be having 3 squads of five and you'll be leading one of them. The other two will be lead by Thermite and Thatcher. We'll be slowing you to choose who to bring with you and I already know you'll be bringing Dokkaebi along while Thermite brings Ash. So I'll call a meeting for you and them to pick out your squad members for when we start the attack."

"I'll meet you there then." Luca said, standing to take his leave to the base meeting room.

He picked up both Jordan and Mike on the way there since he had already known they were informed of the mission and had to be up on stage with him regardless. "So, are we going to decide who we're all bringing here or are we going to be unorganized and choose after they arrive?"

"Well son," Mike scratched his goatee, "I know you're being Grace and Jordan is bringing Eliza so I say we just do it like the old gym days. I choose first though because I'm currently alone while you two are bringing your lasses along."

"Well everybody has been briefed about the locations and what they're like at our last meeting so I don't think it matters who we bring. We'll just have to plan out what we'll be doing strategic wise." Jordan added to the conversation.

Luca shrugged in response, not knowing exactly what Harry had planned. All he and the other two knew was that they'd be picking out their squads before separating to different planes to move in on the base locations all around Europe. The three waited in the Meeting Room as they awaited for Harry's announcement to the rest of the gang to meet up.

After five or so minutes, the static from the intercoms made its appearance before being replaced by Harry's voice. "Yes, hello all of my friend! Please meet me, Ghost, Thatcher, and Thermite in the meeting room. Those three will be leading our operations in Graz, Austria, Ibiza Spain, and Batumi, Georgia. The locations of White Mask bases provided to us by our local terrorist friend who is now in a federal prison. I hope to see you all in the Meeting Room soon."

Their fellow operators slowly filled the room, Eliza and Grace sitting closest to the stage so they could talk with their significant others before Harry arrived which wasn't long. He clapped his hands as he entered the room, silencing the group as he walked up to the stage.

"Hello everybody! I'm glad you could all make it even though I understand you don't exactly have a choice whether you want to be here or not. That is besides the point however, this meeting shall be short as the three leading the operations are behind me and shall be choosing who is going with them. I shall assist them in briefing you a game plan from there as well as those who are not chosen, you are to use the rest of today as a purely dedicated training day. Any questions?" Nobody raised their hand, "Good good. Now who shall be picking their operators first my friends?" He asked, looking at the three behind him.

The men exchanged looks and shrugs before Thatcher stood to choose his squad. He scanned over the different operators, his have meeting with those he felt were worthy enough of bringing. "Blitz, Hibana, Mozzie, and Ela."

With no questions following his choices, he sat back down and forced Thermite to choose his squad mates. "Well y'all already know Ash is coming along with me which is kind of obvious." The Texan said, "But I would like Twitch, Smoke, and Vigil. Go get your gear folks. I'll be following shortly after Ghost here chooses his group. Ghost, get your ass up here so we don't have to hold these lovely people any longer than need be."

Ghost facepalmed at his friend's enthusiasm before walking to the front of the stage, tempted to push Thermite off into the table. "Doki, you already know you're with me. But for everybody else, I'd like Maverick, Buck, and Alibi. Everybody else, stay here as I know Harry would like to talk to you before heading off for training. If you're name was called no matter whose group you were chosen for, we'll be meeting in the armory before making our way to the airfield. Briefings about the missions will be held after we take leave to our respective countries. I wish you all the best of luck, let's get home quick and clean." He said, walking off the stage with the other leaders and squad members following him.

Harry took the stage to continue his speech about what his operators would be doing while the others were gone as the chosen ones left the room.

Small talk took over as everybody made their way to the different lockers. "So Grace, I'll be completely real with you. None of us know which country we'll be going to. I just know what the buildings we'll be breaching are like so who knows where our group shall be going. Hopefully it's Ibiza, I've always wanted to actually go to Spain as I have never actually left the Americas before joining Rainbow."

"It's nothing to special from the time I vacationed there to my memory that it. I was only a teen at the time." Aria stated, "But I'm sure it's improved since then."

"I was there a couple years ago after getting back from a raid I had been on. Nice place, didn't spend much time there. But seeing as how the White Masks are there, I wouldn't be too sure of that. As for Georgia and Austria, I have no clue. Never been to them." Erik piped up.

Luca looked towards Grace who just shrugged and grabbed his hand. "I don't really mind where we go, they all seem interesting but we have to remember that we aren't going to be there as tourists. We will be on a mission to eliminate the White Masks in the area."

"She does have a point, it's not like we're going to be taking a vacation in Ibiza. I mean that is unless Harry gives us permission to afterwards but I doubt it." Luca said, opening the doors for everybody to get into the armory for their gear.

Everybody headed for their seemingly full arms cages except for Luca who was in Grace's. "So why do you wear this tighter clothing when we go on missions? I understand it's flexible allowing you to move easier, but it's not the best of outfits to be shooting people in."

Grace laughed, "Says you, you fight in whatever you're wearing for the day. Now go to your area and get everything you need, loverboy."

He chuckled as he left her alone to go to his area a few blocks down. His own armory was practically empty, it had his Browning pistol, the Remington shotty they had taken from the London Police, a shit ton of ammunition, a belt of frags, a few packed up breaching charges, and some random attachments scattered around the area. He noticed his old beat up rifle leaning against the far back corner but knew better than to take a weapon that could break at any given time. He looked around the empty area before picking up his bulletproof vest that already had a few bullets stuck in it, his trusty pistol, shotgun, and the ammo for his pistol knowing he had no extra shells for the Remington they technically stole. "Aye slugger, catch." A voice said from behind him."

Luca turned and snatched the shell covered strap before looking at who said it. "Thanks Mozzie. I'm amazed you knew I needed these."

"I noticed you had an old janky semi auto piece of shit thing in there and some police shotgun so I figured you'd need that ammo more than the rifle's."

"Yeah. She ain't what she used to be. I modified and beat her up so much over the years, I don't remember what she was underneath. She's just some Frankenstein build of a gun now."

"Maybe we could get some new parts rolling and get her as good as new. But until then mate, I'll be seeing you around once we're all back. I've got me squad to meet up with on them airfields we've got here and I want to be first." The short man said, waving as he began to jog off.

Luca quickly threw the vest on over his tank top before strapping the frags to his waist and his shells around his shoulder with his pistol in his pocket and his shotgun in hand. He wandered over to Grace's area to see her in her gear, polishing up her M14.

"I see you're getting more ready than I am." He joked.

She looked his way and laughed, "Because I'm actually cautious when it comes to my weapon's condition as well as protecting more than just my torso from being shot. You've got regular summer clothing on with a vest over you tank top, your pistol you nearly killed yourself with, and the shotgun we basically stole from London."

"Hey man, finders keepers. Who knows, maybe it'll come in use in my hands because I know you kicked some serious ass with it. I saw the damage done, couple arms, legs, even some dude's head was blown off. I was honestly impressed because I never thought of you being one to do that to others, even terrorists."

"I'm not only the soft person I am when around you. I was quite the troublemaker and loud mouth growing up. I can be aggressive if need be."

"Well let's hope I never have to watch it happen first hand. May actually make me partially scared of you."

"I doubt it, it'll just make you not pick on me as much and I can get my way on things you want to do." She replied, cheekily sticking her tongue out at him

"We'll see, who knows though. We've got to catch up with the rest of the group though and head to our plane." He said, putting his hand out for her to grab.

She wrapped the gun's strap around her shoulder and happily accepted her boyfriend's assistance. The two enjoyed each other's company is they walked through the now empty locker room to the runway hand on hand.

"Hopefully these ones will prove to be somewhat of a challenge. I've been sick of just doing basic drills for the last month because we've been hitting only small groups that used houses as bases." Grace stated, stretching her legs partially with each step.

"I dunno, but I honestly have been enjoying having less work to do since everybody has been getting sent out in groups of three or so. I've only gone out 3 or so times compared to the regular 6 that I was doing beforehand when I was relatively new. Besides, that's more time we've gotten to spend with each other, go out on a few dates, little bit of sex, ya know, everything a person could dream of with the one they love."

His girlfriend giggled in response, "Maybe you're just pervy and you just want to fuck my silly. The rest is just extra steps to do so."

Luca rolled his eyes as they turned one last corner, revealing the airport and 3 of Rainbow's personal Learjet 60SEs. All the groups were split up by landing locations. The two lovebirds approaches the rest of their group where their squad mates seemed to quietly be throwing a small celebration. "We're going to fuckin Spain my friends." Maverick said, giving Ghost a few hard pats on the shoulder. "And I call dibs on sleeping for at least the first hour and a half there since I got a jack shit amount last night not having expected to be going on this mission."

"All of you, please store your weapons and armor in the overhead bin so you don't overheat or decide that you are bored during your flight and play with your weapons." One of the pilots announced using a megaphone. The three got into their planes and waited for the teams to board.

Everybody spent a few minutes communicating with the other teams before each going to their respective planes.

 _30 Minutes Later_

The five were finally in the air after many small pre-flight inspections and small conversations with the pilot and what the hell was going on that was taking so long. After 150 or so miles, of their nearly 1500 mile trip, Ghost decided that it would be a good time to share his plan of attack with his comrades that weren't passed out in the back of the jet.

"Everybody gather around please," Ghost said, pulling both a folded up blueprint and a sharpie from his pocket, "The place in question that we shall he sieging would be a Spa Resort. We had thankfully found the original owner before he sold the place and got the blueprints to the entire layout of this resort because it's new owner, some extremely stuck up Frenchman with a stick up his ass or something, refused to give it to us. And with good reason too. You see, he uses the place as a laundering base for money, weapons, drugs, whatever the White Masks can get their hands on. During the day, the 'softer' men and women act as employees under the owner. At night however, the place goes completely dark. Nobody has seen inside the place after 8 PM and it's suspected that the once luxurious style it's quickly converted into an underground hub for the terrorist organization. Sort of like a safe zone. We were sent here to eliminate everybody on the premises except for the resort's owner who will end in being questioned and jailed. Let's start with the layout though. Multiple areas including old Spanish ruins can be used for cover in the exterior, we'll just have to deal with a couple cameras. Inside, there are only two floors with a giant open area in the center. The staircases are located on the bottom left, closest to the front entrance and service area, with the other is next to their own kitchen and some type of bar room. Downstairs will be predominantly empty for the most part, maybe a few patrols we can just fuckin stab, you know, the norm. Upstairs is where the captains and most of the rest of the grunts will be. They do have alarms however that could alert nearby White Mask members that are in their homes that we haven't identified so we'll have to do this quick and clean. Everybody understand?"

His three awake comrades all nodded and started to pitch in ideas of how they could pursue their goal, putting a small smile on his face.

* * *

 **Ibiza, Spain**

 **5/22/2019**

 **5:00 PM**

"Operation Velvet Shell is a go my friends." Ghost radioed to the rest of his squad.

"Is that what you're planning to call it my friend? How do those add up to this?" Buck questioned his comrade.

"Don't worry about that, that was just me speaking to myself partially. Anyways time to fuckin rock and roll. Alibi, you clear out downstairs. The rest of us shall be entering through a hatch Buck droned out that we can remove silently thanks to Maverick's blowtorch."

"Roger that." The Libyan woman said.

The other four operators rappelled as silently as they could up the four corners of the building, making sure the cameras didn't turn on as they ascended. The four met by a wooden patch that had been locked from the bottom which was no problem. Maverick took his blowtorch from his belt and began to burn a line on the surrounding wood, slowing his squad mates to get their hands under it so that they could lift the wood once he had it fully disconnected. It took a solid half a minute or so and anytime a handle that connected it to the rest of the roof broke, a loud snap could be heard but Ghost didn't witness anybody come to investigate. Dokkaebi and Ghost swapped controls on the drone so that he could assist Buck in taking the hatch off its hinges.

"I'll go first." He announced, dropping through the hatch into the bathroom.

He peeked his head into the room to see the room's two doors closed and locked as well as a man in nothing more than a white sport jacket going to town on some blonde girl.

"Okay, what the fuck." He whispered, turning back to his team. "The owner of the place is fuckin some chick, probably just a prostitute or a girl who is using him as a sugar daddy. What do we do?"

"I'd let him finish, don't be rude." Maverick joked.

Everybody shot him a disapproving look at how he planned to handle the situation. The four tried to brainstorm, ignoring the moans coming from the outside of the bathroom. "Do we know if she's a mask or not?"

"One moment please." Dokkaebi said, pulling her tablet from her chest to scan through all the different electronics connected to the building's WiFi. "Heather Rins is her name, and I've found a private darknet email under her name that's filled with emails from the owner himself about recent missions. So anything works, we just need him alive."

"Say no more." Ghost said, cocking his shotgun. "Alibi, go loud."

He walked up to the back of the distracted couple, honestly enjoying the view of the young blonde girl before aiming his shotgun at the back of her head while the older man pounded away at the back of her.

He looked over to see Dokkaebi shaking her head no but he ignored her and pulled the trigger, splattering blood, brains, and bone against the bed and wall before grabbing the nude man and ripping him off of her now corpse. He threw the man to the ground and quickly covered the dead girl's body with the covers before putting his boot on the man's dick, applying some pressure.

"What the heck dude? Was that really necessary?" Buck questioned, walking out of the bathroom with the other two behind him.

Gunshots could be heard being exchanged from downstairs after the original shot.

"Mr. Baguette boy is in your hands Maverick. Tie him up, torture him, and get the cops out her for clean up. Buck and Doki, you two go check out the room in front of us. I'll go out this one closed to the balcony."

"Roger that friend." Buck replied, swapping to his underbarrel shotgun. As the Canadian and Korean walked to their door, Ghost gave his fellow American a thumbs up when he saw him tying the owner up with his own sex ropes. Knowing his team would be fine, he used another buckshot to decimate the door's lock to see what fighting he'd get to on the other side.

Dokkebi pulled out her pistols as the Canadian unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open revealing a room filled with four guard, once in each corner, all with their weapons drawn at the door. Bullets began to fly at the wooden door before Buck slammed it and got away from the soft wall.

"Get your rifle out and take care of the little ones in the back, I can get our two closest." He said, aiming his underbarrel shotgun at one of the corners where a guard was. Dokkaebi nodded and readied her M14 from behind her Canadian comrade. "And fire!" He shouted, putting two shots through the wall, killing the closer of the two men and putting a massive hole in the wall before rapidly repeating his tactic on the other wall to allow Dokkaebi to finish off the farther men.

Rather than open the bullet riddle door again, he decided to just jump through the bigger of the two holes and trained his sight on the doorway.

"One moment please my friend, let me scout." Dokkaebi told her comrade as she took a cellphone from one of the dead bodies.

She quickly transferred its data and camera access to her tablet and scanned through the variety of views the cameras offered. Downstairs, Alibi could be seen putting a single bullet in each of the chefs' knees followed by Maverick threatening the man with his blowtorch behind them, and ending off with Ghost getting himself into hand to hand combat in some type of reading room in the opposite direction of where her and Buck had went against the people. She didn't worry too much because he had a knife and they didn't. For the rest of the rest of the resort, there were masks who were preparing their rooms for the operators. Some were flipping tables, others were setting up metal shields from somewhere. Honestly, they were sent to secure the owner but killing the terrorists themselves were a bonus.

"Alright Bucky boy, lets help Alibi and Ghost clear the place out."

"Lady's first. Just don't peek your head out too far." He said, reading his rifle.

Dokkaebi laughed and kept her pistol out, preferring it's full auto over her rifle's semi auto. While bullets and chaos surrounded the two, the halls seemed quiet and untouched. They creeped out and went left toward the staircase. At the bottom of the stairs was one of Alibi's holograms with two masks behind it, both with slit throats. To their right was a small corridor that lead to a room that seemed to be blocked off.

"On my mark, watch my back Doki."

The Korean girl nodded and watched behind them as Buck entered the corridor to check the place out. "Aye, watch this." He said, pulling two hand grenades from his belt.

Buck pulled the pin on the first of the two nades, holding it for two seconds before tossing it under. He quickly pulled the pin on the second grenades as well before placing it under the wooden blockade and getting behind the same wall his partner was at. The first of the two grenades went off and was followed by multiple screams. Buck an Dokkaebi quickly moved in a couple of seconds after the breaching grenade went off and witnessed four men, one dead, two clutching parts of their body's to stop the bleeding, and a fourth aiming a pistol at them despite his missing leg.

"Walk backwards slowly and leave or I will fucking end you!" He shouted.

The two operators looked at each other and shrugged. Having known Buck had the quicker reaction time, she took one step back and allowed him to take the shot to end the poor man's life. She took two quick shots at the remaining stragglers before looking into another room with a regular old pool table with bricks of cocaine under it.

"Buck, coke. They've been laundering drugs as well here."

"And lots of it," the Canadian said, tossing one from the couch onto the floor, go ahead while I report this to Six."

Dokkaebi kept her CZ ready as she walked through the doorway. Before she could react, a masked man kicked the handgun up above her head and her eyes met with the man's. She noticed he was in the middle of swinging some object her way but had froze up and couldn't react even if she wanted to. Pain and pressure filled the entirety left portion of her head and face before she the world around her faded to darkness and silence.

* * *

Graz, Austria

5/22/2019

7:30PM

"Thermite, our strikes here in Georgia were unsuccessful, we have searched throughout the entirety of the abandoned apartment complex and not a single trace of the Masks have been found. No drugs, money, weapons, or even life. Just old graffiti covered concrete walls bloody everywhere mixed with wildlife and Mother Nature herself." Thatcher told the American as his group had found nothing at their destination.

"Well that's such a shame for you, huh buddy? Good thing we've already scouted our location out so that we know for sure that the bastards are here. You guys request a ride to head back to base. While you're at it, check in and make sure Charlie Squad is doing good over there in Spain. I assume their raid at the resort should be nearing completion."

"I'll be sure to check. You just get your bloody job done and wiped the damn Masks out of that tower."

"Don't worry old man, we've got this. Goodbye for now."

"Farewell. I'll kick yer ass if you guys aren't done within the hour."

Thermite went to retaliate but the beeping from his phone forced him to shut his mouth.

"Everything will be fine my friend. Thatcher just wants us in and out because as much as the man loves his job, he cherishes the moments when everybody is back at because not including training, it's peaceful as if there were no conflicts going on in the world. Ya know Thermy, sometimes you have to stop and enjoy the little things in life." Smoke said, patting the taller man on the shoulder.

"Yeah I figured. But finishing this quickly would be nice. I sometimes wish I was a millionaire or billionaire or something so I wouldn't have to work and just rest all day. Supposedly Ghost has a couple million lying around somewhere."

"Shut the fuck up you two, please so that we can finally get this running." Vigil said, smacking the back of his squad leader's helmet.

"Yeah Jordy, I'd like to go home soon as well. I've never been a fan of Austria." Ash told the man while also hinting at her family's heritage.

Twitch shook her head and walked past the group. "You all do you. I'm going to get this shit done with."

The four watched as she approached the five story office and dropped her drone on the ground before taking her grapple hook and shooting it to the rooftop. She avoided every window she could and stuck herself in the small spaced pillars that held the building together.

"You four do you. I'll be starting from the roof. Don't worry about civilians, everybody here is hostile." She com'd to the rest of the team. "I have no plans of going silent so you can do whatever."

Thermite nodded and signalled for Vigil to split off from the group and Smoke to join Twitch.

Twitch watched as her British squadmate rappelled behind her as well as Thermite and Ash breaching the front entrance. "Well you small British man, let's get going. Can't let them start all the fun."

Once the two reached the top, Twitch handed the phone that controlled her drone to Smoke, "Use it whenever you want. I'm going in."

The frenchwoman dumped a mag into the window next to her and quickly reloaded before breaching in. Gun ready, she scanned the lobby using her laser sight to measure abnormalities. Twitch sighed when she heard the sounds of a firefight exploding on the floors below her, missing the action. "Smoke, get in here. Time for us to start making our way down. I need to get my adrenaline pumping."

"Stop being so demanding, we're a team lass." He replied, entering through the same window she did.

"My apologies but I honestly wasn't really wanting to go on one of these missions and I'm anxious to just get it all done and over with. Check all doors that you see, don't be afraid to gas them out."

Twitch followed the building's walls, feeling around for a light switch before eventually finding one and flicking it on. The entire floor lit up allowing the two to get a much better sense of the environment they'd be having to deal with. Each of the two operators slowly approached the different doors before slightly opening them and busting in to witness nothing but emptiness.

"Fuck man, are they all on lower floors?" Smoke asked, cocking his shotgun.

"Well, let's find out." The two began to walk towards the stairs but stopped in their tracks when they heard a noise interrupt from the men's bathroom.

"Don't even bother, Smoke whispered to his colleague, "I've got this." The British man took one of his signature canisters from his belt and pulled the pin on it before barely opening the bathroom door to throw it in.

As soon as the gas filled canister left his hand, Smoke slammed the door shut and pressed down on the charge. A small poof could be heard from inside the room followed my violent coughing.

"Let's go, he's a dead man in there."

The two proceeded down the stairs, Smoke leading with his M590A1 to kill anybody they may come across immediately without needing to waste multiple shots. More gunshots from below ringed throughout the building, these ones sounding like they were from the second floor rather than the lobby.

"Looks like we're bound to meet up. Those shots are probably the two bloody lover birds, and Vigil is probably out stabbing some terrorists. Do you remember if they have anything that we need to collect and send to the local PD?"

"Not that I remember. We're supposed to clear the place out and try not to destroy it too badly as it was apparently taken over by force and the owner would like it back. The local PD never believed him when he'd cry for help because the White Mask made it seem like a normal business from the outside by arriving in suits and having the first few floors seem normal since nobody would go above the third one. We have communications with the police department so that they can finish their investigation or whatever."

"Makes sense." He replied, watching as a door in front of them burst open before slamming shut again with a single White Mask trying to sneak away from the rest of the group.

As the man sighed and wiped his forehead, Smoke cleared his throat to get the man's attention before using a single blast to end the man's dreadful life. The two approached the door and took point before pushing it open just enough for the two to see inside the room. Tables were flipped, bullet holes covered the area, and there were a few dead bodies on the ground with multiple stab wounds.

The two stalked around the area, inspecting the corpses that surrounded them.

"They're all extremely fresh as if they were done mere minutes ago," Smoke told his French counterpart, "Do you think Vigil somehow made it up here while we were on the top floor and those two lovers took the bottom ones? How did he manage to do that unless there was a fire escape 'round back."

"I wouldn't know Ja~ AHHHH!" Twitch went to reply before being tackled to the ground. Her eyes widened as a huge amount of weight pressed down on her throat.

Her lungs stung from a lack of air, her eyes felt like they were bulging out of her head as she tried to look down her attacks. Nothing but a void and a pair of two black eyes stared back.

"Vigil…" She wheezed but the man didn't hear.

As the world began to fade to black for the Frenchwoman, she could feel the weight of her teammate shift off her body followed by the yelling of her British mate.

"Are you focking stupid mate? Neither me nor Twitchy here look loike the bloody White Masks! They wear literal White Masks followed up with those sodded jumpers and baggy pants!" Smoke followed up his lecture to the Korean with a slight smack to the back of the head, "I know you've got that damned past behind you but you can't let that tell you that everybody you see is the enemy! But you don't need me to tell you all that bloody shite, you should know it already. Have you cleared this floor and are we able to move on? I know you can hear the gunfire below us that Thermite and Ash are partaking in and I'm sure they'd love for us to help them so let's get our arses moving down the building. I know that they're looking forward to getting out of this shithole and to go on a nice date or something. Let's get it done and let them have that date. It's not everyday us operators get to go out and be normal people. Not even Ghost or Doki get to and they're madly in love with each other. Now let's move. I don't want another situation like this to occur again."

The British man pushed himself off of Vigil and grabbed his shotgun before heading back to the stairwell once again. Vigil and Twitch exchanged looks before grabbing their own personal weapons to follow his lead.

More gunfire rang from the floor just below them, "This should be the last floor. We shouldn't have to fight after this last floor." Smoke said, pushing the door open.

An onslaught of bullets was dumped through a small entry point as well as the door and seals itself.

"Well fook me. I've got a plan but I don't know how effective it will be. No time like the present to test this out."

Twitch and Vigil watched as Smoke grabbed his two remaining canisters and through them in as far as he could from the door. With a press of a button, violet coughing could be heard from the room. The Brit motioned for the group to move in and quickly either dive to cover or to make their own.

"Thermite, come in. How are things down there going for you and Ash?" Vigil radioed as he dove behind a nearby table before proceeding to shoot into the now dispersing toxic gas.

"Not time to talk. Vigil." Thermite replied as he continued to jab his gun into a Lieutenant's skull.

Ash kept her rifle aimed in the general direction of the remaining four masks that shared the room with them. "As I said before, and I am not going to repeat myself. Do I make that fucking clear? I know you all have a family to take care of. You give yourselves up and come with us, we can make sure that you are put into witness protection and safe from the Masks. If you don't take up that offer, we can and will kill you. That's why we're here after all, to disinfect this place of you guys. It's your choice, and I don't think it's that difficult of a decision."

Two of the terrorists slowly lies their weapons on the ground by their feet, the third terrorist doing the same after watching how easily half his remaining group gave in just so that they could live. All eyes fell on the remaining terrorist who was persistent enough to keep his gun pointed at the American and Lieutenant.

"You have three seconds to give it up. I recommend doing so."

Rather than giving them man his three second chance, Thermite released a sigh and pistol whipped his human shield before taking a couple shots at his only opponent left in the room. Seeing as he has crippled the only man willing to fight back as well as knocked out the group's leader, Thermite passed a short message to Ash about guiding them outside and to get the local P.D on the bastards so that he could head upstairs and provide covering fire for the rest of his squad. As the Texan scaled the stairs, an idea popped into his head. He passed the door and charged to the room above.

"Smoke, I'm coming in. Watch your head."

A staticky confirmation played through his comms as he unrolled one of his exothermic charges he carried on his back. He placed the explosive one the wall and pushed down all the edges to insure the floor would come down.

"Really big fucking hole coming right up!" He shouted, moving back from the explosive as he detonated it. Sparks flew from the device as it burnt into the floor and metal, searing the floorboards around it.

"Click click~" The explosion shook the building just ever so slightly, "Boom."

"Thermite you idiot, we're supposed to cause minimum damage!" Twitch shouted into the man's ear."

"Oh well. Somebody's government is gonna pay for it. Not me. Just be glad that I now can see people who you are not able to."

Twitch grunted at her teammate in which he just laughed in response. Not wanting to get his head taken off by peeking into the hole, he took the drone off his belt and grabbed the phone from his pocket to control his little buddy. He drove the drone into the hole and looked around to find the terrorist's hiding points before getting shot.

"Motherfucker…" He grunted. Still worried about catching a bullet between his eyes, he placed a second charge on the other side of the floor and pressed the detonator before making his way back to his original hole.

Knowing that the terrorists closer to the rest of his squad wouldn't dare turn around, he quickly picked off the furthest back three terrorists.

Screams from closer to the rest of his squad erupted following more bullet fire. Thermite being keen to leave the place, laid himself down next to the hole and stuck his head and gun through it to help clear the remaining terrorists that remained out of site from the three below him.

Realizing that they had been surrounded, he watched a three of the remaining eight White Mask stand up to take point at better angles. Thermite unloaded half of his magazines in one of the fleeing terrorists while he watched Vigil let loose his unbelievably uncontrollable SMG12 which somehow killed the remaining two. Thermite had an angle on two of the Masks who were hiding behind a flipped plastic table that had broken glass, and a variety of foods laying on the ground around it.

"What a waste man." He muttered, taking a few pot shots at the men before finally hitting the both of them a few times each. "Fuck me, I really need to train on shooting while inverted. My accuracy is ass right now."

He watched as Vigil began to crawl and make his way deeper into the room for an attempted flank while Twitch and Smoke proceeded to trade fire with the remaining three terrorists. Thermite noticed that his Korean ally had Twitch's revolver on his hip rather than the SMG12 as well as a bloodied blade in his hands. He watched as the room fell silent, Vigil snaked his way through the mess of bodies and debris scattered around the room. Smoke would take a coupe pot shots every few seconds, probably to hide the noises of his mobile partner. Thermite maneuvered himself to his unused hole to keep spectating his teammates stealth tactics. As Vigil as gotten behind the remaining three terrorists, he crouched instead to speed up his progress. The man unholstered the revolver from his gun as he approached the three who were using some sort of shelving unit as cover. In one fell swoop, Vigil charged the three who turned their attention to him immediately. A single shot dug into one of the Mask's skull before he swiftly kicked another's legs out from under him as he grabbed the third White Mask as a body shield. Vigil held his used blade up to his hostage's throat as he pointed the revolver at the grounded terrorist. Without a word, he emptied the gun in various places along the man's body followed by jabbing the blade in his shield's trachea.

"Building is officially clear. Let's get a move on." Vigil spoke up, pushing the blood fountain of a corpse away from him.

"Amen to that brother."

* * *

 **(No, I did not go back in time. Time zones exist)**

 **Ibiza, Spain**

 **5/22/2019**

 **5:00 PM**

Ghost and Alibi rushed to the final room where he assumed his two squad mates were after he and the Libyan had checked on Maverick to make sure the place's owner was secure. Silence had covered the building over the last two to three minutes. As he walked in, his sight pinged from body to body, his eyes leering at the sight of one specific Mask who looked like he had taken well more than a single shot from Buck's underbarrel.

"Jesus Christ Bucky boy, what did you do to that man?" Ghost asked himself, looking towards Alibi who shrugged.

The two looked around the room and noticed a doorway leading to another room that contained a cough and minibar. The American continued to walk into the room to see what was going on there when Alibi cleared her throat.

"Ghost, I think you missed something." She said, picking up a pair of bent and shattered glasses.

His eyes widened before he immediately pulled his phone out and began scanning the entire resort for her tablet. "Outside, she's on that balcony there."

He didn't dare hesitate as he grabbed an old Astra 600 from one of tnhe corpses in the room. Gun drawn, he whipped around the corner ready to kill whatever was on the other side. Rather than an enemy, he saw an unconscious Dokkaebi using a bloody Buck as a pillow.

"Buck? What the hell happened?" Ghost asked, crouching down to their height.

"We're alive. It's ay-okay friend. I was reporting the drugs that they had been laundering back to Six while she proceeded and a Mask had managed to slam the butt of his gun into her face and get a single shot off on me. I assume you saw the mangled corpse."

"Fuck man. I'll call an Evac. Maverick has our hostage ready to move from the penthouse. We need you and her treated, you're bleeding from your bullet wound and I can already see her eye starting to swell and darken. Wouldn't doubt if she has a concussion."

"Already ahead of you Chief, " Alibi said from behind him, "Evac should be here in five to take us to a nearby hospital and Maverick is bringing the bastard to us. Those two could use some sunlight anyways. They're pale as fuck."

"Careful now, I'm a vampire too if we're talking skin color." Ghost replied as he sat down next to his downed squadmates.

* * *

 **I'll be honest, this isn't my best works but I did my best to make it work as I just got bored with this chapter which was one of the reasons the story went into a state of hiatus. But we are back now and I have a plan for the story so that something like this doesn't happen once again. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a review or DM me, all is appreciated. Ciao!**


	13. Patriotic Boom

**Okay** , **chapter 13. I am not going to be on an update schedule like I use to. But, I shall still be updating this story. Just not as consistently. Recently, I've been having some life issues so please excuse me if this chapter takes a while to actually come out.**

 **Thank you everybody who has read the story or has at least checked it out as Then There Were Two has hit 10,000 views as of 9/15/2019. I'm glad that you all have cared to enough to either look at or read the story.**

 **I hope you all enjoy chapter, I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Until then though, Ciao!**

* * *

 **July 1st, 2019**

 **Denver, Colorado**

 **11:00 AM**

"So, we get to be civilians again for a week, huh Grace? No Masks to worry about, no missions to go on, just a week of relaxation? Because if so, I don't like it."

"Calm down you baby. Our flight lands in 10 or so minutes and Evelynn should be waiting for us. Do you know if she'll meet us before or after customs?"

"Not a clue."

"Well then it'll be a surprise. Just be glad we're coming and going on militaristic passenger planes. Why do you think everybody else here are part of the British army?"

"Because I don't have any form or proof of ID except for a decade and a half old drivers license that's expired."

"That's not what I was thinking but you do have a point. Anyways, you're surrounded by people just like you so it could feel like home."

"Except it doesn't," He sighed, "We're on a plane with people of far lower skill and experience than us that I don't know, going to a place I've been to once or twice because of potential threats that ended up being false alerts. The place is gorgeous, yeah, but the civilian life just isn't for me. I can deal with it for a few days at a time but a week is just too long for me."

"I think that you're just a big baby who's body is filled with nothing except adrenaline just waiting for his next high."

Luca heard a small snicker from one of the surrounding soldiers and rolled his eyes. "I refuse to stop until I complete my own personal mission or until I'm lying dead of a puddle of my own blood."

"Well looks like I'm gonna have to keep you in check for a while."

Luca went to argue but decided not to as the pilot began to speak from overhead. "Welcome everybody to the beautiful state of sunny Colorado. The current time is 11:07 and it is a blazing 91 degree Fahrenheit. I hope you enjoyed your flight and we're thrilled to fly with you again in a week. Have a good vacation everybody."

Luca and Grace's focus directed towards the window as the plane continued to descend, eventually touching down on the runway. Luca began to impatiently tap his foot as the plane was making its way to the terminal.

"I'm so glad that Harry gave us those passes to let us board first. Relieves me of the stress of having to wait for a giant group of people to get off before I can even stand up."

"I always took personal flights with contacts. Never passenger planes."

"Hm, I wonder why?"

"Don't sass me woman."

Grace stuck her tongue out at the American as the plane had finally come to a full stop. Being in an aisle seat, she stood up to grab their bags from the overhead bin and handed Luca is once he stood from his seat."

"Apparently we're nowhere near the main part of the airport and we have to take a subway to get to security and the bagging area."

"I wouldn't doubt it. Did you see how massive the place was before we landed? It's enormous. I'm just glad we aren't in Los Angeles or New York City."

As the two entered the terminal, they saw a large group of people from all sorts of backgrounds holding signs or cheering in excitement for their active duty family members returning home. Luca and Grace scanned the crowd for the only familiar face they knew, eventually spotting her in the far back. Realizing that they hadn't been spotted yet, the two planned to get behind her to spook the poor woman. Grace gave Luca a wink before approaching the shorter woman and jabbed her fingers into her waist. Evelynn released a slight squeal and whipped around, her purse clutched in her hands.

The two operators began to laugh at Evelynn's expression before she cleared her throat. "Rude, I've been here waiting for the last half an hour just to get greeted like that."

"Well you've got a week to get me back love. You do have to watch out for your brother though, never said he wouldn't try anything sneaky out."

"I'll beat him up if he does."

"Good luck with that. You're smaller than Grace." Luca chuckled, grabbing Grace's hand. We should get a move on though, I don't think Gracie here has ever been to the midwest so she doesn't know the beauty of the state."

"Seriously? You guys travel all over the world but she's never been here? Has she even seen the Rockies at all?"

"Nope, I have only spent a day in the states max each time I came here. I never did any sight seeing or looking around." Grace chimed in.

"That's gonna change while you're with me. I'm on summer break and have some freedom to do things now. We can go to different events and I found one I think we'll all enjoy for the Fourth of July and~"

Luca cut her off before she could say anymore about the activity, "Shhhh, keep it a secret. It'll be more fun that way. Now let's go, I hate airports with a passion and would love to not be here."

"Oh, yeah, right! Follow me. This place is huge so it's easy to get lost within." The main building is connected to its three different wings through which are connected by an underground rail system. It's pretty neat and effective if you actually look into it."

The three walked from the C-Wing of the airport towards a group of escalators that lead to the two paths of subways.

"This is our ride back to security. It ain't too fancy but it'll get us where we need to go quickly. After we pass where security is, we'll be at the baggage area and finally out to the car where we shall finally be home free."

The group was forced to wait a few minutes as they had missed the first train.

"So Grace, I noticed that you're wearing regular glasses now rather than you're circular ones. Why the change up?" Evelynn asked.

Grace looked towards Luca who bit his bottom lip rather than acknowledging the question. The Korean adjusted her 707 beanie and replied "Things go wrong sometimes when you're working. I just haven't picked another pair up yet."

"Then we'll find you some here. I'm sure the Sunglasses Hut at Southlands has a round pair you'll like. If not, we can check out Oakleys or Ray Bans."

"It's no biggie, but I appreciate the thought of helping me find a pair."

"You have a week here and my employer allowed for me to have paid vacation after Harry had contacted the company somehow."

"He's got a lot more power and access than you'd think, kid." Luca butted in, "I learned that the hard way. Brought up everything known about me in my first 17 or 18 years of life."

"And how'd he manage that?"

"Don't know, don't care. Nobody in this world knows a damn thing about me since then except those who I've met and whatever I have told Grace over the last like 9 months or whatever, I don't remember when I first met her."

"So nobody knows anything else about you? None of the good, none of the bad, just nothing at all?"

"Nothing. Leave it at that. There's things I'm proud of and even more I'm not proud of." Luca took Grace's hand in his own as the train finally arrived.

The ride was silent from terminal to terminal before finally ending up at the main hub. "We only have the bags on us, so we can get out of here and pick up some food and head back to your place. Just hang out there for the day." Luca suggested.

"Sounds perfect to me, I'd love to use the day as a lazy day as I've worked the last three weeks straight."

"How many hours have you done?"

"Only 6 hours a day. I've been busy because of school so that I can pay for student loans and all that, you know how it is."

"I'd suggest doing more hours do you can work less days but that's a personal opinion."

"I'm getting like four or so hours of overtime every pay period which is nice. Adds up when the time comes before Uncle Sam takes his part."

"When I was still in high school, I worked 4 days a week, 11 hours a day each summer. Trust me, I'm sure that you would prefer to do something like that even though it makes you hate your life considering I worked from 7 in the morning to 6 in the evening, sometimes even later when we got busy. Only got paid about $13.25 an hour as well but I got occasional tips and money from spiffs. Which ended up as close to $900 a week."

"Better then what I make, I'm minimum wage as a barista. And don't work nearly as many hours as you did."

"You need a better job."

"I'm going to college for a reason. I want to be a biological engineer."

"Sounds like you'd love to meet one of our Russians. She'd be great as a teacher. Well, sort of. I'd explain why but I don't know if it's information I'm allowed to talk about." Grace laughed and whispered in his ear that he couldn't without both Harry and Lera's permission. "Well I guess she answered your question. Sometime tomorrow, we can discuss this. But for now, don't worry about it."

"Then I'll wait. You've got my curiosity running laps around my skull now." Evelynn said, lightly smacking her brother's arm, "I drive an 06 Jeep Rubicon if you're wondering. It's slightly lifted and has the tops and doors off. Shouldn't be too hard to find, it's parked basically right next to the entrance."

"What color?" Grace asked.

"Blacked out, paint and wheels."

"I like your style."

"I appreciate that, your brother seems to have his own appreciation for black. Haven't seen any other color on him."

"Damn straight." Luca said proudly, rustling his black shirt then adjusting his earrings.

Their search for the murdered out Jeep wasn't long as Evelynn had literally meant that she parked as close to the airport's entrance as she possibly could.

"Shotgun." Grace called out as she hopped into the open door.

Luca shook his head and chose the seat behind his sister as it meant he had far more leg room. "Let's find some grub and head to where you've called home."

* * *

 **July 3rd, 2019**

 **8:30PM**

 **Denver, Colorado**

"You two lovebirds behave, I'll be back by midnight!" Evelynn called from the front door.

"No promises! Stay safe on your date!" Luca yelled back, waving her farewell with the arm Grace was not connected to.

The two had been on the couch cuddling, just enjoying the time they were able to spend together with nothing and nobody to interrupt them. The TV had iHeartRadio on it, playing quiet metal music. Grace adjusted her head from resting just ever so slightly on his head to his shoulder as he began to mumble out the lyrics of the current song, Sarcasm by Get Scared.

"If I could be the devil, you could be the sinner. If you could be the drugs and I could be the dealer. Everything you say is like music to my ears…"

"Say, Luca?" Grace said, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend, "Maybe I could be your sinner you little devil of a man."

Luca gave the Korean girl a small, almost innocent smile, "I don't think we can do that here little one, though I'm happy to see I'm with a girl who is willing to sin."

"That's not what I was hinting at, I was hinting at this." She replied, giving him a playful lick on the cheek.

The American turned to look at her with pretend disgust covering his face, "Dirty girl, I don't think you would want to be licking me."

"I think you're right, I'd prefer much more. I've actually been waiting for Evelynn to give us some alone time for the last couple of days. I have you all to myself now."

Grace pushed her lover on his back and kicked the blanket off the two of them and began to kiss and suck on her man's neck. Luca wrapped his arms around the Korean girl and slowly rubbed her mid to lower back as she worked her way up from his neck to his jawline. In between pecks, she'd give his freshly shaved face a single wet kiss. Her assault came to a stop as she felt her boyfriend's hands slowly submerging under her running shorts.

With a small grin on her face, she gave him a short, yet love filled kiss on his lips before saying "You can grab, nothing more. This isn't our home you know."

Luca's eyes rolled as he mumbled out a few complaints, "Fine. I'll keep it PG just for you." He said sarcastically before sticking his tongue out.

"Don't tempt me boy, you already know how far I am willing to take things." Grace teased, grabbing his tongue before it could retreat back to his mouth. "Plus, always respect your woman."

The two stared each other down, Luca shuddering just ever so slightly in anticipation for what was to come next. With her free hand, Grace slid her hand under the American's head before lowering her own.

With Luca's mouth still being open due to her having ahold of his tongue, she let a little of her own saliva build up on her own. Feeling what she had was enough, the Korean girl stuck her tongue out only a mere few inches from her lovers. The saliva ran down her tongue, forming up at the bottom where it began to spill off and onto Luca's own tongue. Grace let go of his tongue as he was willingly keeping it out this time. She could feel his hand slithering from her lower back up to the back of her head where he began to slowly bring her head down to his. The two slowly closed their eyes as their tongues were the first to meet, gently sliding across each other as Grace's lips finally met Luca's.

Their tongues wrapped around each other and explored the caverns that surrounded them, connecting with whatever surface they could reach.

Grace began to release soft moans into her lovers mouth as Luca's hands had found their way into her shorts where he began to grope and squeeze both her thighs and ass. Running out of breath, Grace pulled away to take a quick breather as well as allow nothing but a strand of stray saliva keep their mouths connected to one another. The couple's eyes met, nothing but love filled them. The Korean girl cupped the man's cheeks in her hands as she cut the saliva with her young and gave Luca a small peck on the forehead.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but you come so far since I first met you. I nearly gave up on you at one point because you seemed to have wanted nothing to do with me unless it was strictly professional." Grace said, squishing her man's cheeks.

"I'm just amazed you managed to get me to speak. I think you made me get fed up enough that I had just given up." Luca joked, earning him a light smack on the face.

Knowing his grip was still underneath her, Luca quickly lifted his girlfriend from his pelvis high enough for him to scoot farther up from his previous position before setting Grace back down on his upper thighs so that he could be on her level rather than on his back, dominated.

"Besides, I'm not complaining. You've taught me how to slow down in life and enjoy the little things," He pressed his forehead to hers and shut his eyes as he spoke, "I never got to have these moments. I learned to always live my life in either the past or future based on the situation I had been forced into. It made it to where I never had time to just stop and think for a while, spend some time with my thoughts. Before joining the team, I was never in the same place for too long. I was always on the move to keep myself occupied, hardly ever stopping for rest. I'd average maybe 30 to 35 hours of sleep a week. I'd make up sleep on some days occasionally but that was rare. Joining the team had been a nice change of pace. I've had time to relax and do things I enjoyed over the years but didn't get to touch much. And… I think I haven't told you about how much I appreciate the new life I've been given as well as how accepting you've been with me. I know I do my best to express it already, but I love you down to hell and back. I wouldn't want to trade anything in the world for what you've given me."

Luca wiped the forming tears of happiness from Grace's face and pulled her into a loving hug. "Sorry I got all emotional, it had been in my head for a while and I need constant reassurance because my mental state has been messed up over the last decade or so."

"I think you deserve a gift, one from me to you." Grace said, cleaning her face from the tears that her lover had missed, "And I'm gonna smack you again if you refuse because this one from me to you. Just remember, no going too far."

Grace pulled her shorts up to show off more skin on her lower body followed by her removing her crop top. Luca's hands had quickly went to feel and squeeze her ass as she continued her presentation. She quickly reached behind her and disconnect her bra's clips. Without any hesitation, she took the piece of clothing off and set it down next to them as she let her breasts free.

"Now where did we leave off?" Grace, shoving her breasts in the man's face to allow him to give one of them a quick lick before lowering herself enough to continue their makeout session.

* * *

 **July 4th, 2019**

 **3:00 PM**

 **Denver, Colorado**

Grace, Evelynn, and her boyfriend Dominic all waited outside Evelynn's apartment, waiting for the surprise Luca said he had prepared for them.

"So, what do you two think it's going to be?" Grace asked, looking towards the other two, "You are American afterall and it is your country's Independence Day today."

"I'm not sure, but he's probably gone somewhere, most likely out of state hence why he's been gone all morning, to grab fireworks."

"We can't even shoot them off here. It's illegal in the state of Colorado." Dominic added.

"I don't think he cares about illegal activity."

The three were only waiting about ten or so minutes before they saw a brand new blacked out Ford Raptor pull up in front of them. One of the tinted windows rolled down to reveal Luca. "Hop in guys, I've got everything we need to a great Fourth of July. A truck, fireworks, many guns with more than enough ammunition, all sorts of alcohol, a grill, and plenty of burgers, hotdogs, and steaks ready to be thrown on it."

Although really confused, they all got in the truck before asking questions. "Luca! Where did you get all everything? That includes the truck too!" Evelynn asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Friends in the right places. Always a blessing."

"How did you manage to get the guns and ammo?" Grace asked.

"Police force and local gun shops. We'll be meeting some of them there, that's why I got plenty of food, alcohol, and fireworks. We're celebrating the most American way possible. A few old accomplices will meet us there as well as I managed to track them down."

"So how many people will be there?" Dom added to the list of questions.

"Not sure but everybody is supposed to be bringing something so we'll have plenty of shit to go around. Today is going to be all about having a blast. You two ever fire a gun?"

Evelynn and Dom both shook their heads no, "Perfect. Grace and I can teach you. First gun I ever shot was a 12 Gauge shotgun and it was a fucking blast. But, we'll probably let you start with this." Luca said, grabbing a Glock 17 from the center console and handing it back to Evelynn. "It's what the police use, and it has little to no recoil. I thought about starting y'all off with an M1911 but changed my mind. Any other questions?"

Not a single peep came out of his passengers. Satisfied with the fact that he didn't have to explain that he bought the truck, he piped up again and said "Buckle up and get comfortable. We're heading to privately owned land where we can do all this without on duty police bothering us as well as nothing nearby being able to catch fire. It's a win-win if you ask me. Only downside is it's two hours away."

"Let's get going then bro." Dom said, patting the back of Luca's seat."

* * *

 **One Hour Later**

As the minutes ticked by on the road, Luca had noticed Evelynn and Dom using each other as pillows to sleep the whole ride there while him and Grace were listening to the Octane Radio Station that the truck came with. Knowing he could talk to Grace about private matters that his two sleeping passengers shouldn't know, he turned the current song down.

"Hey Grace, I just wanted to let you know something."

"What is it baby?"

"You know how I said some accomplices would be there?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"They're going to introduce themselves by their first names, but I'll be calling them by something else because… well, they were my old team back in my bad days. Dallas, Chains, and Hoxton." Luca released a sigh before continuing, when they introduce themselves to you, please be respectful and don't bring up anything you know about me being with them. It was already hard enough to contact them and I want you to see that the people I worked with weren't monsters like people made them seem like. That they can be civil."

"May I know their names before hand so I can remember that?"

"The tall one, silver hair, that's Nathan. The black dude is Nicolas, and the Brit is James, you'll know it's him before he speaks because a huge burn scar covers nearly half his face."

Grace nodded as she took in the names, "So I'll be meeting part of your old family, huh? Is this the first time you've seen them since leaving?"

Indeed. It's been maybe seven or eight years since I last saw one of them, I assume you know who John Wick is. He's probably off being a hitman or something now that the Payday Gang is disbanded."

"What was that final meeting like?" Grace asked, taking Luca's right hand in her own hand.

"It was a final goodbye really, we went to a bar and just talked and drank. Talked about life, how important some things are, as well as life lessons that I should live by, some of which I do still live my life by. He may not have been the greatest guy, but he had his good and soft side. And honestly, I do miss them. They all cared for me because some of them had faced the same trauma I had gone through. They gave sympathy and empathy my way when nobody else would, which I guess has made me see them differently than the rest of the world who only knew them as killers and heartless and shit like that."

Grace went to speak but was abruptly cut off by Luca, "But none of that is important. Today is a day for celebration, pride, and fun. Since I can't go kill some terrorist fucks, I'm going to make today a blast. Literally."

"I'll do my best to keep it in the back of my head, it's not everyday I'm working with ex-criminals." Grace said, getting a deadpan look from her boyfriend. "Correction, ex-criminals who ended many."

Luca slowly nodded his head, "Fair enough. That one is acceptable."

"How were they like?"

"Hoxton was a mess. The rest of the original crew, they were normal outside of the jobs we they all did. They have the same dark humor that you like to beat me up for though, so good thing I've already gotten you use to that."

Grace sighed quietly, "I'll try to refrain from back talking them like I do to you since you know some of the jokes you make bug me since they can go too far sometimes."

"Yeah, I know. I do it on purpose sometimes specifically to mess with you." Luca said, smirking at Grace's annoyed expression, "I love youuu." He added, bringing her hand up to his mouth and planting a soft kiss on it causing her to giggle.

"You know, life after Rainbow doesn't sound too bad. The two of us could start a business or something since we have similar skills."

"We don't have to to work. I have money and we can just invest if you don't remember. Though I guess working would keep us occupied and hopefully not bored."

"It'd be a while though depending on how we age. Look at Jalal, man is 58 and he's still out kicking ass like he's our age."

"Depends, I don't think that Rainbow is going to need us for that long. The reason we have been recruiting so many operators recently is because the Mask situation has been growing over the years. I've been fighting them for ages but they were terrorists in South America for the longest time before slowly gaining influence on the U.S. If we wipe them, they'll probably release us to the reserves so that they can call us into duty anytime they need the big guns."

"That doesn't sound too bad. I don't know how it would affect the gang when people start having children. There are a few couples within the group, as well as Zofia already has a kid. If I remember, Harry lets her go home a week at a time at the end of the month back to Poland to spend time with her husband and child. It would probably be something the opposite of that, where we'd either be called in for a week at a time or they'd make us live on a military base wherever we choose to live at and that whoever is closest, they'd call in."

Luca shrugged, "Do you think that they'd give you female operators that time off when it's actually noticeable that you're pregnant?"

"Well yeah, more than likely. Once we start showing signs of being pregnant, they'll probably do everything they can to keep us from going into the field once they find out we're bearing a child, yet alone when are tummies start to bulge just ever so slightly. Good break for me, not so much for you."

"I wouldn't say that. I'd say that you'd get pretty lonely if I have somewhere to be and you'd be left home alone."

Grace giggled and put on a mocking voice on, "I'm a strong and independent woman who does not need a man in her life. I just choose to have you - a man - in my life because you seem like you needed somebody to take care of you and I feel like I'm the only one responsible enough to take care of you."

"Sureee. You totally weren't into me of all people you had to choose from right from seeing me for the first time."

"Nope, not at all." She proudly said, continuing the joke.

"Then I guess it was the fact that you saw a suicidal baby and didn't want somebody you talked to more than just occasionally that you felt no feelings for to end their suffering."

"Awwww now I feel bad for going along with the joke! I didn't think it would go towards that, that's awful and you shouldn't joke about that!"

"It was me though who was considering it, I think it's fair game for something that I can use as joke material since that's the case."

"Nooooo, you can't use it for jokes. You'll make me cry Luca Aryton Pirelli. You made me think that we were going to lose our first operator since Rainbow becoming a thing. You were the newbie too at the time which would have made it even worse. I'm just glad that I got to you when I did or else I wouldn't have you in my life."

"At least I can say that the only person that has came close to killing me is myself. That's a win in my books."

Grace sighed and looked down at her lap, "I know you've accepted what's happened to you but it really upsets me that you're okay with making jokes about it. What if you really did pull the trigger? You wouldn't be here anymore and I'd still be in England… I'm fine with some of your other jokes, but can we please agree for this topic to not be one of them?"

Luca saw the sadness in her eyes as she stared him down and was filled with immediate guilt. "Okay fine, I promise not to joke about that again…"

"Thank you Luca. I really appreciate it."

"Anything for you, especially when I can see the sadness screaming from your eyes alone."

* * *

 **5:00PM**

The sound of the song Declaration Day by Iced Earth could be heard playing just a hundred or so feet away from where all the vehicles were parked.

"Sounds like we're here." Luca said, smirking as he parked the Ford Raptor next to a much smaller 90s Toyota Tacoma. "Alright, all our everybody! Bed is unlocked, we all gotta grab what we can because I smell food and gunpowder in the air tonight ladies and gentleman."

The four hopped out of the truck and grabbed as much as they could carry to the group. "You two start to talk and get to know everybody. For the most part, they're police officers and gun shop owners so that we'd have plenty of guns to shoot according to Luca." Grace said, placing a cooler filled with everything people needed for the perfect burgers and steaks as well as a variety of different alcoholic beverages.

"Besides, I have a few more things for us. Grace and I will be right back, they're at the truck."

Evelynn and her boyfriend nodded and dropped off what they had to go mingle with the different officers who had been preparing targets, magazines, and even laying out many different types of fireworks.

"So Luca," Grade asked, "What did you bring? I didn't see anything else left in the truck?"

"Under the passenger seats. There's a briefcase that is filled with ammunition as well as two gun cases that I had Harry send here specifically for today. Two guns I've always wanted to shoot."

Even more confused, Grace stayed by his side once they reached the truck to see him lift the seats revealing the briefcase he mentioned as well as two decently sized gun cases. "What's in them if I may know or is that a surprise?"

"Harry sent me your shotgun and Eliza's R4C." He replied, a huge goofy smile covering his face.

Grace facepalmed, "Harry seriously sent you Eliza and I's guns? Why did he think that that's a good idea?"

"Because you love me and Eliza is a good friend. Therefore, instant access to you guy's guns. Besides, how long has it been since you've used your BOSG? We both know you always bring your rifle. At least Eliza goes back and forth between her R4C and G36C so both guns get to see some action."

"Chul doesn't use his either on missions."

"But I still see him practice with it. That's what makes you two different. So tonight is a perfect night to practice with it even though I do agree that it's not the most useful of weapons due to it only having two shots before needing to reload, but it's bound to instantly kill whoever it hits."

"Fine, we can use it. But only me and you for both mine and Eliza's guns. Nobody else." Grace groaned.

"Deal. I nearly asked Emma if I could have her F2 for a while but decided not to. Besides, I'll have to send these back to him sometime tomorrow so that they'll arrive probably the day we get back or the day after."

Grace picked up the weapon case for her own shotgun while Luca took the rifle as ammunition for the two guns. The two found Luca's sister and her boyfriend already talking to the cop that had been manning the grill, tons of steaks, burgers, hotdogs, and pork chops covering the larger cooker.

"Do you think they'll go shooting? I talked to Evelynn a bit and they've never done so. I'm not even sure they've heard a gun in person before."

"Ha, maybe you can teach them. Afterall, the way you handle a gun is a bit unprofessional and you act like they're toys sometimes which worries some of us half to death."

"Sounds good to me. You know I shoot fine, it's just I have little to no care in the world about safety."

The two stopped and set the weapons and ammunition on its own table taking the guns out of their cases. "Did Eliza really have Black Ice painted on her gun? I know it doesn't have to be stealthy but she could have left the camo off like you did with your shotty."

"That's because I don't use my shotgun."

"Fair enough. Can I take what I assume are the first shots of the night so I can get everybody's attention?"

"Be my guest." Grace said, tossing Luca two slugs for her shotgun.

Luca made his way back to the truck and drove it away from the group and onto a hill just next to the party so that his voice could fall upon all the attendees. Luca noticed that a couple of the officers and gun store owners had noticed his plan and were already at attention. Knowing nobody was prepared for any sort of shorts, he took aim at the area they were planning to use as a range. "Fuck me, this will be loud." Luca mumbled to himself before rapidly firing the two shots. Everybody looked up at him including a terrified Evelynn who was clutching Dom to save her damn life.

"Thank you everybody for coming, I'm happy to see that you all came and even brought some friends. My only two announcements are that the shotgun I'm currently holding as well as the rifle down there by my lovely girlfriend Grace are off limits as I need special permission to even bring them as well as fireworks will be starting once it is considerably dark enough. But until then, everybody have a riot, have some fun, hell get fucking wasted!"

Everybody cheered minus the wives and girlfriends that were brought along.

Luca got back into his truck and returned it to his previous spot, and brought the gun back to see Grace having small talk with a few familiar faces.

"Ghost you cunt, it's been years! Where have you been?" The Brit yelled.

"Ah fuck off you damn brit. How has life been treating you?" Luca asked, bringing the man into a hug followed by Nathan and Nico. "James, Nico, Nathan, you crazy bastards. I'm amazed none of you have changed your phone numbers."

"No reason to, presidential pardon bitch!" Nico said, giving the American a smack on the back. "Also who woulda known that you of all people got a girlfriend."

Luca proudly took Grace into his arms protectively, "Of course. Because unlike you maggots, she doesn't love me for the cash I have." He said, followed up with a small kiss on the back of her head.

"Ah whatever. We're too old for dating and marriage. Midlife crisis life, it's been treating us well Ghost." Nathan said, wrapping his arms around the other two heisters. "Glad to see you still thriving after all these years man."

"Hell yeah dude. I never strayed too far off the path I had been on. I've just gotten a bit more professional with it. I'm just happy that I'm done working with you crazy fucks. Couldn't bring myself to do what y'all did."

"It's been years since that happened but the gang has all split up. Why do you think Wolfie never showed up? We haven't seen him in ages, he's completely disappeared off the grid sort of like you were."

"He's most likely living his best life. Bain can also most likely track his Swedish ass down if need be. But fuck him for now, I'm just glad I could track you fucks down and get you here for the party."

"Cheers to that, let's go grab some beers and start shooting."

"You boys go do that, I don't drink any other alcohol except for wine. My taste of alcohol isn't very refined at all so I need an actual drink. Besides, you haven't seen your boys in years, so have a blast Luca." Grace gave him a quick peck on the cheek before heading off to get a plate of freshly prepared food.

"Okay Gracie, see you around!"

"Luca? Seriously bruv?" James asked, "You've spent how long with her and she got to learn your name but we never got to?"

"Uhm, I don't know. I've known her maybe 6 months or so but we haven't been dating for that long. Let's just say shit happened, bad memories, repressed thoughts clouding my judgement, and things in my mind just hit the fucking fan. Pulled my gun out, and just couldn't take it anymore. We can just say that she was the only one who has been there for me. Nobody else has stuck by my side that I've worked with, she's been my closest friend and my only love. And we've been together ever since. She's only like three or four days younger than me as well so it's not one of those large age differences you guys had gone through with women."

"No need for a sob story mother fucker, all you have to say is that you nearly took the pussy way out and she prevented you from doing so fucking Luca. It's time to fucking party. Let's go get some fucking beers."

The four made their way to the group of various coolers filled with all different sorts of beers, whatever you could think of, somebody had brought. Wanting to show his old friends that he hadn't lost touch with his rough edges, he took the knife from his waistband and jabbed a hole into the can before beginning to shotgun it causing part of his shirt to get wet.

"Fuck man, leaving us out of the party doing it alone?" Nicolas asked, "You've got me fucked up man."

Luca tossed the now empty can into a nearby metal trash can before grabbing another Coors Light. "You know what, fuck it." The American grabbed one of the coolers and motioned for the others to meet him by the weapons range. "If we're going to fucking party, we're going to party until we can't remember what the fuck is happening boys!"

Luca's three fellow heisters cheered as the grabbed the guns and ammo they had brought and moved it to the two Luca had brought along with him to the party. "I'm not sure what you fucks brought with you, but this shotgun here," Luca said, tapping it gently, "It's Grace's though she doesn't use it much. The rifle there, that R4C is a friend of mine, Eliza's. I promised them only Grace and I would use them so rightfully, I'll let you use the shotgun and not the rifle since Eliza does love her R4C."

"What do you do now anyways, I know you worked with us against any of the White Masks raids as well as a lot of our silent work. Never were a fan of killing police or civilians." Nathan asked.

"I still do kill those terrorist fucks. Just in a more… Well, a more militaristic and undisclosed way now. I told you, my line of work has been more professional as of recently."

"So you're working for the bloody government?"James asked, downing some of his beer afterwards.

"Multiple governments. The files they have on me are extremely scarce. They have what they know about me up until I supposedly died, a few raids I conducted from then until late last year, and that's it. They didn't even know my name other than Ghost until maybe three or so months into me working there. Other than them knowing my existence and a tiny bit of what I've done, I'm still heavily under the radar. I could go M.I.A and the one only that'd be able to track me down is Grace due to specific hardware I helped her develop for the two of us to use."

"You sure that they haven't used anything you've told your 'colleagues' that they managed to get them to spit up about you?"

"Of course because Grace refuses to tell our boss about anything without my permission. She gladly keeps things between us private."

"Fair enough boy, glad you've gotten yourself a keeper." Nathan said, bringing Luca into a tight hug and giving him a noogie.

Luca struggled his way out of the older man's grip and put on his best Kung fu impression. Receiving nothing but weird looks from the three as well as nearby partygoers, he stopped and loaded Grace's shotguns. "Fuck you guys, you're no fun."

"Okay Vlad, do you plan on making your great cupcake recipe instead of partying with us?"

"Ah fuck off. That Russian bastard while fun and funny as hell, he was a crazy fucking bastard who I hardly trusted with every job I ever helped him out with."

"Who gives a flying fuck. He paid us like we were royalty brother." Nicolas said as he picked the AR-15 he had brought along with him. Quickly chugging his current beer, he threw the can to the side of him somewhere and took aim with his rifle at one of the farther out targets. Five shots was all it took to completely rip they target's head off.

"Damn bro, that's not 5.56 in that son of a bitch, is it?" Luca asked.

".50 Beowulf." Nicolas said, a grin covering his face.

"Reminds me of a buddy of mine. One of his weapons of choice is a fifty cal AR-15 as well as just a regular M4, but damn do the two of those babies do work."

"Let's see what your bird's shotty can do then, it's obvious you didn't bring your own gun." James said, handing the loaded gun to Luca.

"It shreds and it's fucking gnarly."

* * *

The four jackasses continued to drink throughout the hours, all four going through multiple trips to the grill as they got more and more drunk with each visit. This didn't stop them from shooting the guns as they're minds became more clouded and their shots far less accurate. As night began to prevail, more and more people began to drink and join in on the shooting as conversation started to bore them in their wait for the firework show the pyrotechnics had prepared for everybody.

"Yauo-uh, you guyssss knoe how much I've missed you awwwll?" Luca said, stumbling all over his own words. "Y'all were always my, my, my family when… when I was just a kid pretty much."

"You were a bloody adult Lucas or Luca or whatever your blokeass name is, I don't focking rememba when ye joined us." The brit said, taking a few potshots into nearby hill.

"Hey guys! The show's about to begin!" Somebody said, waving towards the four drunks. The group exchanged glances before putting their weapons down to follow him to the rest of the group who were all looking down a barren field, awaiting the explosive surprise

Minutes passed by as the huge group of people. Eventually, Luca strayed from his group and waddled around until he eventually found a slightly buzzed Grace with a wasted Evelynn and Dom by her side.

"Grace…" He mumbled, "I think I fucked up and… I think I drank far too much. My head hurts, I don't remember shit, and I'mmmma… urgh. Tomorrow is going to be awful…"

Grace just looked at her drunk boyfriend and laughed, "You know, I partially expected this to happen as you generally aren't allowed to be too heavy of a drinker."

"I only had uhhh. I dunno… 20 beers? I'm uh I used the bathroom lots."

"Whatever, just try to avoid fainting until we get home. I can't take care of all three of you. I thought two was hard enough. Besides, fireworks st~" Grace's statement was cut off by the sound of tens of fireworks sending they're beautiful sparks into the sky.

Despite being impaired, Luca has still managed to grab ahold Grace's hand as he stare went from blank to severely focused on the fireworks as they shot off into the night sky. Oos and Ahhs filled the air as fireworks became bigger, shot off more often, as well as the variety of patterns. The world seemed to have slowed down from a walking pace to what seemed like a nap as the rest of the night faded to be a memory for Grace to tell Luca about in the near future.

* * *

 **July 7th, 2019**

 **7:00PM**

 **Denver, Colorado**

"Dude, my head is still throbbing from two days ago. I had way too much to fucking drink…" Luca muttered as the three had finally passed the TSA."

"Yeah, all we did yesterday was watch that VRChat roleplay you like, Ascension Academy or whatever, followed by naps because you refused to get up. You didn't even eat at all yesterday and Evelynn had to keep bringing you water bottles."

"It's all good, I'm just glad he had a fun time. Your line of work that you two are in makes him too serious at times. So it was fun to see him just having a great time since I know you told me Grace that anytime he drinks, he'll become philosophical, yet open while buzzed." Evelynn responded.

"Yeah, he can be that way sometimes. But as time has gone on, he has definitely gotten better."

"I'm right here and I'm sober, you don't need to talk about me as if I'm not literally holding your hand Grace."

"Yeah but with how often you've been complaining your head has been throbbing, I've assumed you are focused on dealing with that than listening to us." Grace teased, giving his hand a light squeeze.

"Only partially. I'm trying to work on both but it's difficult."

"Well you aren't going to like the subway again," Evelynn said, a small laugh coming after her statement, "I'm sure you remember that it's not quiet at all down there. Just be glad that the terminals are generally really quiet, especially since it's going to be nothing but active duty military stationed in or from England."

"Hopefully they're just as hungover as me. It means we'll have a nice sleep for at least half of the boring flight."

"Stop complaining and be sad that you're leaving your only family to go and save the world." Evelynn pouted.

Luca's eyes rolled, "I'll think about it... Maybe."

The group of three followed the same procedure they had done when the first two had first landed, just in reverse. They took the subway to the far down C terminal, and walked around until they had found their Gate. Luca has separated from the group to go grab a burger from a Smash Burger restaurant before the gate.

"I had food before leaving, don't worry Evelynn. Don't have to wait alone like you had most likely expected when he mentioned that he was gonna grab himself a bite to eat." Grace said, wrapping her arm around the shorter women's shoulders.

"He's a mess, huh?" Evelynn joked, "I couldn't imagine what my life would have been like if I did grow up with him. It'd be weird though if he was anything like this as a kid."

"Being the person who knows his background best in this world, I can tell you that without a doubt, he was a relatively normal kid. Definitely a quiet one but still normal nonetheless."

"I've only heard stories of what his, well, our parents were like. They seemed nice and that they had raised him well which is great but I wish I had gotten to meet them in my life."

"I'm sure they would have loved to have watched you grow up."

"And I'm sure they would have loved to meet and accept you into the family."

"Thank you."

Half an hour has passed, their flight had landed and the civilian passengers had unloaded, leaving the flight to refuel and tidy up the rest of the plane before the military members could board. Eventually, Luca had shown up with two milkshakes in hand, one that's chocolate and one that's strawberry.

"Ladies, got you both milkshakes, both your favorite flavor." Luca said, handing the chocolate shake to his sister and the strawberry one to his girlfriend.

"Didn't forget about you guys when picking me up some dinner, I'm not that cold hearted."

"Wasn't going to say you were, Grace and I have just been hanging out, letting the time tick by. Airports are awful when it comes to waiting." Evelynn griped.

 _"Boarding has started for Gate 103, boarding has started for Gate 103. Expect departure within the next twenty minutes." The overhead voice said from above."_

"Well I guess this is goodbye for now, huh?" Evelynn asked, a single tear swelling in her eye.

"Only for now, don't cry kid." Luca said, bringing the young woman into a hug.

Evelynn happily accepted the hug, sniffling during the embrace. Grace walked up from behind the women and allowed the hug to be a full circle around Luca's crying sister. Seeing that people has started to line up to board, Luca and Grace let go of Evelynn.

"Stay safe kid, we'll see you again soon."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading this chapter, it took a lot or time to finish and had slightly rushed the ending, but it should be a-Okay. The next few chapters shall be bigger and continue the story a lot more than what the last few chapters have done.**

 **Also, I'd like to say that I am in a discord with a good amount of other writers and readers that you can join. Everybody write about various different genres and games so you may find somebody like you as theres like 15 or 16 different people. Feel free to DM me if you would like to join, anybody is welcome.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed, reviews and messages are appreciated. Thank you and have a good rest of your day!**


	14. One Way To Make An Entrance

**Chapter 14 man. Now we're getting into the good shit where everything I've planned comes into play over the next three or four chapters. Although this chapter just introduces it, I'm sure that you will enjoy it because of the adult theme within the chapter, as well as some fun between you know who.**

 **If there are any other Rainbow Six Siege writers out there, PM me or Kingeddie16ne as we are part of a discord server with a few other writers. Once of us can send you an invite to the server if you are interested.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter and have a wonderful rest of your day!**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **August** **19th, 2019**

 **9:00 AM**

Luca's eyes groggily opened as the sun finally penetrated the blinds. The man let out a soft moan as he adjusted himself and squeezed Grace closer to his body where he could hear each of her tender breaths. Luca fought to fall back asleep as today was his day off from training, but his natural body clock refused. Rather than fleeing from his bed though, he decided to just enjoy the moment and time he we able to spend with a Grace. The rate that they had been doing mission at, was happening at a faster pace than the months previously and Luca just wanted to take a single day where he didn't have to fly out to somewhere else in Europe and spend sometimes days at a time there just waiting for something to happen before getting into the fun part of his job. As the morning minutes ticked, Luca studied every fine detail of Grace as the morning light poked and prodded her face. Grace's eyes fluttered open before squeezing shut before her eyes could adjust to the light.

"Good morning sunshine." Luca said, a goofy smile covering his tired face. Grace groaned in response and covered her face using her hands, prompting Luca to move her bangs from her face. "We can stay in bed, or make ourselves look decent so that we can get out of bed and not look like complete bums."

"Five more minutes please…"

Luca chuckled and pulled her closer to him so she could hide her face in the nook of his neck as she got her couple minutes of extra sleep. He continued to brush and play with her hair as his free hand roamed her body, gently rubbing areas such as her back, thighs, waist, and stomach.

The two jumped as loud banging came from the door follow up with "Wake the fuck up, you shouldn't sleep in so late on off days either!"

Graces head fell back onto the pillow in disappointment. "Shut the fuck up Erik, we should be allowed to snooze all we like, it's not our fault we're out more than you!"

"Doesn't matter, get out of bed and socialize. You guys are inseparable as it is, it's not like you guys leaving your room Luca is going to change your precious time together! Hell, at least get yourselves some breakfast before it's too late, Yumi and Emma made muffins for everybody!"

As the mention of muffins, Luca hopped out of bed and quickly threw on a pair of sweatpants and a jacket Grace's way as she only had sweats and a small tank top on. "Come on, let's get us some muffins. We can shower after we eat."

"Ughhh, fine. I hate your love for muffins sometimes, I just wanna stay in beddddd." Grace complained, putting Luca's jacket on.

The two put on socks as to not walk around barefoot before heading down to the cafeteria, greeting fellow operators along the way.

As the two entered the room, Tori almost immediately called the American over. "Oi, buster, get a load of this gem I found us to fix up."

"Give me a moment, gonna grab some muffins and I'll come check it out. Any rust?" He asked, walking over to where the food was all set out

"Nup, she's a beaut alright. Original paint, owner had it running a year and a half ago but hasn't been able to afford to fully restore her. The blood has pictures of the internals, underneath the vehicle, and interior shots. He clearly focused on the suspension and brakes first as they're modernized, while the engine is still carbureted."

"That's perfect then. It'll be a simple project that we can try to get other operators to help with. Get some of them more mechanically inclined since some of them are nerds but only with electrics." Grace shot a glare her boyfriend's way which he simply ignored, knowing he could do both, "Especially Grace. I taught her stick in my Viper, a project car will be perfect, we can find something fuel injected later on. Can be a fun project for all of us, hell I could maybe talk Harry into joining is. Call it a bonding experience or whatever."

The couple plopped themselves across from Tori and waited to see what she had found. "It's a lil bit pricey, but she's got a lot of heritage behind her." The Australian said as she turned her laptop to show the two.

Grace has little no reaction. Luca was quite the contrary, his jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me. You found an old Ford Lotus Cortina? I'll fucking buy it right now if you go pick it up. I don't feel like going anywhere."

"Here, bloke's number is already to go if you want to bargain with him."

"Did he say how much he wants?"

"Just that it was for sale."

With this information, Luca called the owner using Tori's phone. It rang for a while before the voice of an older spoke. "Hello?"

"Yes, hello. I saw that you had an old Ford Lotus Cortina for sale and I was wondering how much you wanted for it?"

"Ah… Yes, my Cortina. I was hoping I could get at least £15,000 out of the old girl as I've put some work into her."

"Sounds fair enough to me sir. Will it be alright if I send a friend of mine to give you the cash as well as pick up the car?"

"It's fine by me good sir. I was expecting you to try and barter to lower the price so I'm happy to cooperate friend."

"Indeed, good doing business with you."

"You too."

Luca hung up the phone and handed it back to Tori. "That was far easier and less of a fight than I was expecting for a beautiful vehicle like that Cortina. Hell, it was a steal the deal he gave us."

"So how are you paying him?" Tori asked, accepting her phone back before closing her laptop.

Luca looked towards Grace who just shrugged as she took the final bite of her chocolate brownie muffin. Luca took what remained of his second muffin and stuffed it in his mouth as he stood and motioned for the two ladies to follow. Once they reached the top of the staircase, Luca broke the silence. "Tori, you saw nothing."

The Australian gave the man an odd look as he opened the door and grabbed a small safe off a shelf next to the door. He quickly punched the code into it and pulled out two of the five stacks of cash it has within. "Twenty Gs. You can keep the five you don't use, if I remember, you have your Land Rover and trailer still to tow it back."

"Indeed, I do. And are ya sure you want an Aussie like me to keep this chunk'a change?"

"Fuck it man, go ahead. I don't have a use for it at the moment."

"Sounds good to me, I'll go get it, I'll contact you when I get back."

"Alright, that's final then. See you when you get back, farewell."

Luca waved the woman goodbye and gently closed the door. "Well, we ate and can shower now."

"Please. If I can't stay in bed all day, I'd like to be clean for the day."

"I second that." He replied, heading to their bathroom to set out a couple of towels as well as let the water start running to warm up for a few minutes. Luca ran his hand under the running faucet a couple times until the cold water had reached a nice and hot temperature.

"It's ready Grace." He said, exiting the room to grab a fresh set of clothing. One of the American's eyebrows rose as the view of Grace in then nude filled his sight. "Are you suggesting something dear, you normally don't strip until I'm already in the shower."

Grace gave one of her breasts a small jiggle, "Find out for yourself lover boy. Just don't keep me waiting." She made sure to brush his shoulder as she passed by him. Luca looked over his shoulder to watch her hips sway as she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

A small smile formed on Luca's face at his girlfriend's flaunts. He quickly undressed and grab two sets of clothing, a simple pair of black sweats, boxers, and a T-Shirt with Caption Price on it. For Grace's clothes as he noticed she didn't bring any with her, he grabbed a lacy bra as well as panties that she didn't know he bought for her, a second pair of sweats for herself, and a flannel shirt he ordered online the was his size, but for Grace rather than himself as well as a new pair of glasses he got her for a finishing touch.

Luca opened the door and creeper into the bathroom, oddly suspicious of the already fogged up shower glass. The man set the two small piles of clothing on both the closed toilet seat and its top lid. "Are you ready in there? Or am I required to wait just a little bit longer?"

No voice came from inside the shower. Instead, he watched as her breasts pushed up against the glass. Luca could feel himself getting aroused as he walked up to the fogged up door.

Before he could jokingly knock on the door the door, it slid open and he was yanked into the shower. Grace's lips immediately interlocked with her unsuspecting boyfriend's as she wrapped her arms around him to keep him from trying to back up. Luca soon began to return her kisses, their tongues occasionally teasing each other through their lips. While Grace's hands stayed wrap behind his neck, his arms moved freely around her wet body to enjoy every inch of her. He positioned one his arms around her waist as his other arm continued to explore her lower body. He paid a lot of attention to her rear cheeks, squeezing and even spanking them as their tongues had finally began to wrestle between as well as inside their mouths. Luca was beginning to thank the fact that they had an anti slip shower as he slowly began learning himself forward and Grace back as his wandering hand had finally starting to roam between her legs. He slowly inserted his thumb into her ass - just up to the end of his finger nail - the rest of his fingers rubbing and playing with her clit. Luca was only getting hornier from Grace's consistent moans as she voiced them into his mouth. Using his thumb's placement in her asshole, he inserted two of his fingers into her pussy. To begin with, he twirled them in circles around her tight hole to feel all the small ridges and lovely body heat she contained. His fingers slowly began to push deep into her wet vagina as he began his slow thrusting. In order to get his fingers as deep as he could get them, he slid his thumb in all the way down to the palm. Grace would release a small moan as she gently bit down Luca's tongue whenever he'd wiggle his thumb around. Their mouths broke apart so they could get themselves a breather as their noses weren't doing a good enough job. Luca took that moment to build up some saliva before diving back into his makeout session with Grace. He allowed the saliva to pour onto his tongue before returning to fight her tongue, transferring the liquid. Realizing what her he was up to, his girlfriend began to play with the small portions he had in the sides of his mouth, trying to bring some of it to her own mouth. The American's hand started to speed up as he fingered her pussy, and middle and index fingers gushing in the liquids it produced.

Grace engaged less and less in the makeout session she had started with as pleasure began to take over her body. Luca brought her body back up to its original position as he lowered himself on her body, filling it was kisses, licks, and even sucking on small portions of skin along her neck, collar bone, and upper chest. His fingers were moving at a rapid pace inside Grace as he began to lick and nip at her now erect nipples. Luca made sure to pay attention to both of her breasts, alternating every minute or so between which one his main focus was as he squeezed the opposite tit. An idea formed in Luca's had as he could feel his two fingers getting soaked. He gently removed his three fingers from her body, licking the juices off of his index and middle fingers.

"Spread your legs a small bit babe." Luca told the korean girl. She happily obliged and did as told, waiting for what her lover would be willing to do next.

Luca sat himself on the shower where the water wouldn't hit his face before scooting underneath of his girlfriend. He licked his lips in anticipation of the treat that was hovering just mere few inches above him. His hands grasped her hips to bring her body lower, his tongue running wildly without rhythm on her lower lips. Grace was grasping the shower door handle as she covered her mouth to prevent any of her louder moans to be heard from outside their room. His tongue slithered from her body's outskirts, making its way into her body where it could enjoy all the warmth and juices it wanted. The juices that her body produced were sweet tasting as well a by far stickier than the last time the two had made love. The American man kept one of his hands in place on her hips and used the other to stimulate her clit as he continued to go down on her womanhood. His wet appendage did circular laps inside her pussy, occasionally slipping out to lick the surrounding area as well as nip and play with her clit along with his fingers. Grace's legs began continued to shake as her orgasm neared. Greed clouded Luca's mind as he began to finger the Asian woman's pussy as his tongue flicked her clit around.

"Hnghhh!" Grace squealed, followed by moans of pleasure at her orgasm rushed through her body.

Luca position him himself right under her as the liquid flower out of her body, just slightly missing his mouth at first coating his cheek in the liquid. Seeing as how his lover's legs were barely holding her up, he swallowed the liquids and got out from under her so that he could gently sit her down on the shower floor with her back facing the rushing water. Luca himself scooted all their shampoo, soap, and conditioner to sit on the little plateau the shower provided.

"So, how was that for a treat?" Luca asked, his breathing slightly heavier as he held his breath while eating Grace out.

"Amazing enough to make me feel entitled to owe you something in return. And I think I know just the perfect gift for you." Grace said, grabbing his penis firmly. "Besides, I know you have the stamina to keep going once I'm done down here. I do expect you to fuck afterall." She said, licking his shaft from close to his testicles, all the way to the top of the tip.

In the time it took for Luca to blink, Grace had submerged his entire dick into her mouth before rapidly licking every inch of it to get it more than only damp from the shower water. Grace took his dick in hand again as she released it from her mouth. She slowly began to jerk it off why staring Luca's beaten up body down. The korean woman enjoyed everything his body was covered it. All the scars, burn marks, and bruises intrigued her because they all had a story to tell about all the things he had done in his life, most of it from before rainbow when he couldn't of had a care for the world or any of the consequences that had once faced him.

Grace let those thoughts wonder from her head as she went back to focusing on her task at hand. As she proceeded with the handjob she was giving her boyfriend, she used her freehand to grope and fondle his testicles as she began to lick and suck on the delicate organs. Luca slowly began to let out quiet moans of pleasure as Grace's tongue slowly moved up his sensitive area. Deciding that slow and easy probably wasn't going to be the way to go, she eased the tip of his penis into her mouth so that she could tease it with her tongue before going down any further on him. Apparently, she had found a really sensitive spot on the bottom side of his tip that whenever she licked, his dick would twitch within her mouth followed by a small moan from her boyfriend. Keeping that information in mind, Grace lowered herself an inch at a time every ten or so seconds to guarantee that she's licked every part of his cock that she could before eventually deepthroating him. She held her position for a good half a minute so that she could practice breathing through her nose while allowing her tongue to circle Luca's member. Once comfortable with the amount of oxygen she was able to get into her system, Grace slowly began to bob her head along his length, making sure that his meat was hitting the back of her throat each time she filled submerged it.

This went on for around five minutes before an idea wiggled into the Asian girl's head. Although her tits weren't exactly the biggest in rainbow - that prize went to Elena - they were still big enough that she could completely wrap them around loverboy's cock which poked through enough for Grace to lick and suck on the tip.

Luca's head tipped back in pleasure as he rested one of his hands on the top top of her head and her first and mouth bobbed along his length. She could feel boyfriend's hips lightly bucking out of both a mixture of love and lust. About five or so minutes into her titty fuck, a faint salty taste entered her mouth as a signal that he was nearing his orgasm as he released the small portion of precum onto her tongue. Grace allowed the liquid to mix with the saliva that had built up as her tongue toyed with his dick's own little hole.

Luca's breathing deepened with every moment Grace made as pleasure shot through his body, potentially even paralyzing him from it. She took advantage of this and used her teeth to prevent her mouth from moving away from the tip of his dick. Grace pushes her tits together to form as much skin to skin contact with Luca's appendage before she began to bounce them up and down along his length. His muscles tightened and his penis became rock hard as Grace milked his cock. It didn't take long for Luca to finally give into the pleasure and succumb to his body's needs, his cock happily twitched between her breasts and in her mouth as his cum began to shoot into her mouth, coating her tongue, teeth, inner cheeks, and the back of her throat. The korean woman refused to release his tip until she was sure that he had fully released his seed as to not waste any of his salty flavor.

She eventually backed off and opened her mouth wide for Luca before closing it again swallow her prize. "Thank you for the protein shake babe."

"Fuck dude… That was definitely a new experience right there for me, never had anybody decide their tits on their own could make me bust." Luca said, releasing a sigh filled with satisfaction.

"I'd kiss you but I don't think you'd want that. So instead, I suggest that we actually shower before finishing off our little session."

"That's fine with me, and please don't kiss me. I don't want to taste my own cum, you'd have to pay me a pretty penny for me to actually consider doing so."

Grace giggled at her boyfriend's comment as she stood up and offered her hand to allow him to stand as well. She noticed that his member was still hard, probably due to knowing that they'll be having some more fun in a little bit and smiled to herself as she pulled him under the water with her.

The two rubbed and groped each other's bodies as they allowed their bodies to get wet. Luca grabbed a bottle of soap from where he has been previously sitting and dumped a good amount of the gel into his free hand. "I'll soap you down babe, no worries."

Luca set the bottle down and rubbed it onto his other hand. Grace grinned at her boyfriend as she separated her legs and arms from each other so that he could cover her body. Despite being graced by the hot shower, the cold soap sent a shiver down her spine.

Luca rubbed down her arms first, but slowed when he eventually got to her torso. He began to slowly cover her back in the soap as he began to kiss her collarbone, slowly making his way down to where he was licking and sucking on her nipples. As he made his way down, he'd slather the soap on the parts of her body that had just been coated in his saliva. He stopped just above her crotch and quickly rubbed down her legs and ass, getting as much of the gel off his left hand.

Using his now clean hand, he rubbed the area between her legs before inserting two of his fingers into her pussy once more. The fluids within her could be heard gushing wish each thrust of his fingers before he took them out and licked them clean. "Just making sure you're ready for me." He said before kissing her crotch before covering it in the soap as well.

Luca helped his girlfriend rub herself clean before she took the soap bottle and got enough of it's gel out for her lover's body. "Just saying, it's fucking freezing even if you have the water's heat on your side in this case."

"I figured, just lube my body up baby." Luca quickly responded, laughing to himself.

Grace took his joke literally and slabbed the soap onto his body as fast as possible, finishing it with a single kiss on the tip of his penis. "Done!" She exclaimed cheerfully to annoy Luca.

Luca gave the girl a small smile and shook his head. He stepped under the shower head to rinse his body off, waiting for Grace to turn around to set the soap down. When his opportunity made itself available, he grabbed her arms and pulled her towards him as the soap left her hands. His hardened member rested happily between her legs as his hands guided her own around her body, settling with one on her stomach and the other on one of her breasts.

"Seems like somebody is really excited to have me right here in front of you, hm babe?" Grace seductively said, slowly moving her body to rub against his rock solid penis.

"Of course I'd be excited, this is always the best part." Luca said, kissing the crook of her neck as the water ran down their bodies.

Luca enjoyed having full control of her actions and movement. He slowly guided their hands from her stomach down to between her legs where a pleasant surprise was waiting.

Grace happily grabbed his member and slowly began to jerk him off while Luca gently rubbed his hand across her vagina. Grace let out small moans as his fingers coursed along his clit. As she jerked her boyfriend off, he controlled her other hand to grope her breasts. "Luca…" She moaned out, "Mmmmm…"

By this point, Luca had already dipped the head of his penis into her body as Grace continued to stroke it. He positioned himself to where has lower than he to gain a better angle to completely insert himself the rest of his length. Luca grabbed ahold of the woman's hand once more and placed it on her breasts as he began to stand, slowly sliding his cock further in inch by inch. Grace squeaked as he brushed against cervix once he was fully in.

In the position they were currently in, it was physically impossible to fuck he properly without elevating her at the end of the shower, or without having to use primarily his knees to thrust in.

"Gracey baby, I'm going to need you do as told if we're going to go at it." He whispered into her ear, gently nibbling on it afterwards.

Grace moaned in response.

Assuming that as confirmation, he slowly began walking himself and Grace towards the foggy glass before bending her over and forcing her chest and face into it.

His thrusts were slow and gentle, each resulting in him hitting her cervix. Her moans were slow and filled with satisfaction as he forced himself into her depths. Luca wrapped his arms around her stomach as his speed slowly increased. He pounded away from behind her, her body heat and wetness turning him on more and more. Luca sucked on the back of her neck as he continued to fuck her, her moans getting louder as he used more and more of his strength. At one point, Luca could have sworn that her tongue was out at one point from the sheer pleasure but assumed that it was just his imagination.

Once his full length filled her pussy, Grace pushed back from the glass and forced him to sit back down on the hump where she had given him his blowjob at. Grace removed her boyfriend's hands from her waist and scooted them up her body, stopping at her tits for him grope and play with them. She squirmed on his lap, quickly getting comfortable on top of him with his cock buried deep within her stomach.

Luca on the other hand was completely happy with the situation was in. He was grasping Grace's lovely breasts as she bounced on his cock, all he had to do was sit there and pray to fucking god that Grace would get off of him before he could cum inside her pussy.

Their moans of pleasure slowly began to synchronize with each time Grace would slap herself down, forcing Luca balls deep in her vaginal canal. Grace's moans were nearing the point of being a scream as she came onto Luca's cock, soaking not only it, but his testicles and inner thighs as well. The extra wetness and the sloshing he felt with each bounce was enough to send Luca over the edge. Grace dropped one last time at the feeling of his dick twitching before quickly removing his appendage from within her. The korean girl got sat on her knees and stuck her tongue out before motioning first her soulmate to stand.

Luca took the hint and stood up. He began jerking himself off, aiming his dick at her face to finish in her face. To speed up the process, he would dip the tip into her mouth and allow her to suck and lick it.

"Oh fuckkkkk…" The American groaned, releasing his seed. Despite having already came early, he released plenty of thick layers of his cum, covering her face and tongue.

Grace happily swallowed what cum did land in her mouth and gave his still twitching dick couple licks before standing up again. "I think it's time to clean up, we've been here for close to 45 minutes."

"Let's just hope they didn't hear us. It was worth it though, some of the best sex I've ever had…"

* * *

 **30 Minutes Later**

Grace and Luca were in the recreation room, watching tv while a few other operators did their own things. Monika, Elias, and Marius were playing cards, Julien, James, Shuhrat, Jordan, and Max were all playing pool.

Grace was taking up a majority of the couch, her head resting on Luca's legs. He happily played with her hair and gently massaged the portion of her head that was upwards.

"Luca and Erik, to my office please." Harry's voice echoed through the speakers.

The entire room's attention shifted toward the American who just shrugged, "What? I don't know why the hell he's calling me down. Today is my day off."

"I zhink zhat you and Erik are going to be sent on a mission soon if that's the case Mr. Luca." Monika started.

"You'll be fine, cowboy," Jordan butted in as he took his shot in their game of pool, "Besides, if it is only the two of y'all, the mission obviously isn't going to be very hard and you'll have either police, CTU, or militaristic support."

Luca just frowned at the thought of going on yet another mission that the locals just couldn't be kept to themselves. Grace sighed and lifted herself off Luca to pout. Jordan just chuckled at the korean woman as her boyfriend left the room.

Luca met up with Erik in front of their bosses office, "What the fuck is so difficult that it only requires two of us? Why aren't the local forces able to do it themselves? It pisses me off man."

"Just think of it this way, if it only requires the two of us, then it's an easy job. We'll be in and out quicker than you'd know it. Those fucking Masks won't know what the fuck hit them."

Erik and Luca exchanged looks before Luca facepalmed, "Fucks sake…"

He looked to the ceiling and groaned before adjusting himself, even with his casual wear on, to look as appropriate as possible. The two Americans walked in and saw Harry doing something on his computer.

"Thank you gentlemen for showing up on short notice, but we've been notified about an issue and I think that you two are perfect assets for what is going on. With your backgrounds of lone wolf work, you're perfect candidates. Bandit would be going with you guys but he's off in Berlin helping the GSG9 with another Hell's Angel problem as he has also had his fair share of history with undercover work before joking Rainbow."

"Sir, may I ask what our task at hand is as well as when we'll be back? I didn't exactly expect to get back to work today as Gracie and I were promised today off. It's not even the afternoon yet and I've already been called to your office."

"I understand that Ghost, it's just you're one of our most experienced solo operators and the Philippines could really use your help to break into a major bust of Masks helping with the drug trade and shark poacher scene."

"And where do we fit into this Harry?" Erik asked, settling into one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"You two are going to infiltrating and posing rival members that shall be proposing a supposed treaty between the two gangs as a way to ease tensions and gain White Mask supports and funds."

"Should we just go get ready now and ask questions later? We're not exactly very close to Asia in general, nonetheless Eastern Asia." Luca said.

"Up to you my friend. Briefing can be now, or it can be later so that you can remember easier when your mission begins."

"I think we'll take up that briefing later on. It's a long flight to the islands." Erik added.

"Very well then, gear up and meet your up with your pilot on the airfield."

"Yes sir." The two Americans responded in sync.

"You two are excused."

The two left the room and split to go to their second. Luca made sure to stop at the rec room to let Grace know that he was going to be in the Philippines for a while before heading to his room to change into his black jeans and grey t-shirt. He made sure to take his sweet ass time once he got to the armory, noticing Erik fully geared up with his M4 strapped around his chest waiting at Luca's nearly empty stall.

"I know you don't want to do this bud, but it'll be over sooner if you hurry up."

"It's bullshit man and you know it." Luca complained as he walked in his armory stall to pick out what he'd bring with him. "I assume I won't be needing much as this is an undercover mission."

"Never a bad idea to over prepare."

"Whatever." Luca took his shirt off and put the light ballistic vest on before covering it with his shirt again. He also grabbed a tactical belt and wrapped his around his waist. "I hope you know that I'm not going to bring the shotgun Grace and I basically stole or my Franken-Rifle even if it's been the most reliable weapon I've ever used."

"You're seriously only going to bring that Browning of yours? It's a handgun. That's not going to be useful in most situations."

"Not my problem, I'll find a way around it." Luca grumbled as he grabbed his Browning Hi-Power and four magazines that he placed in his belt. "If shit goes down, I'll just scavenge off the corpses and take what weapons and ammunition I think will be useful to me. We'll go from there but I doubt that anything will go wrong. It's a simple sting operation, nothing is going to fuck up, trust me."

Erik shook his head with a sigh, "Whatever works for you dude, just don't get us killed."

"I'd never do such a thing. Let's get to the plane so that we can hurry up and be done please."

* * *

 **Asian Pacific Archipelagos**

 **August 19th, 2019**

 **6:00 PM**

"How much longer until we reach the Philippines?" Luca asked, his head buried in his hands.

"Couple more hours. We're over the other Asian islands right now. I wish we were given a better plane so that we could follow the jet stream rather be basically skyscraper height."

"Fuck me dude. You want to know the only good thing that has happened on this flight?" Luca asked, "I fuckin realized that I can import my 19 other cars to Britain since that Ford Raptor I bought is staying with my sister. Thanks to me being a government worker now, I can get government plates so I receive insurance without needing registration."

"Excuse me, but how many cars did you say?" Erik asked in disbelief.

"19, all ranging from the late sixties to the early twenty-tens. Don't worry about how I got them or anything about them, just know they exist."

"Um, okay…?"

Silence took the plane over. Luca has tried starting a conversation with their pilot but received nothing except for the cold shoulder. The minutes and miles ticked by, Luca anxiously moving in his seat for some type of entertainment.

"You know," Luca began to say before being cut off by all sorts of beeping noises and flashing lights.

"Oh fuck! Somebody is locking onto us from one of~"

A huge explosion rocked the plane forwards as the right wing torn clean off, taking a chunk of that side of the plane with it. As the plane began to plummet, their pilot began shouting into his headset coordinates followed by the current situation in hopes of somebody hearing him. While the pilot used every muscle in his body to keep the bird up, Luca and Erik were already bracing for him impact.

It wasn't long before the sound of metal colliding with trees, rocks, and finally the ground reached their ear drums, both the Americans' bodies helplessly flailing in the cockpit before launching Erik out the giant hole and Luca through the windshield as the plane came to a dead stop in the middle of a beach.

"Ugh…" Luca groaned, as he rapidly blinked for his eyes to adjust to their new position in the world. His body was covered in multiple shards of glass sticking from his skin, especially his right arm and shoulder. Bits and pieces of the crashed plane surrounded his body as well as Erik beginning to stir to his left while he saw the mangled corpse of their pilot impaled by a metal rod presumably from somewhere off the plane.

"Look! Survivors! They've gotta be work a chunk of change!" A voice called out.

"Take them to the boss, he'll know a good price to set on their heads"

"Yes sir."

Blackness covered the world as the feeling of metal slammed into his skull.

* * *

 **I don't actually have much to say except that the story has finally crossed the 100k words mark which makes me proud.**

 **Also thank you for nearly 12,000 views on the story, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Ciao everybody.**


	15. Savages

**Welcome to chapter 15! This is going to the final chapter of 2019. The chapter after this however, it'll be to a new start in 2020. The year where this story goes places it has never been. Rather than basic Rainbow chapters like I have been doing, things shall be getting a little more serious and I will be taking the story to higher and more meaningful bits. As well as looks into Luca's life in the past.**

 **For those who are interested, a discord has been set up that contains me, the writers of the stories down below, and a few others. Please feel free to shoot me a message if you would like to join it, as its a community discord server for Rainbow Six Siege readers and writers alike.**

 **As you will see, I mention other OC operators from the stories: The Unsung Hero, Perfidy, The Spirit and the Man of Fire, and Hunter Becomes The Hunted. I made sure to receive permission before using them as small easter egg appearances.**

 **I do really hope everybody who reads the chapter enjoys it as well as looks forwards to what's to come in the future. Take care you all now!**

* * *

 **Asian Pacific Archipelagos**

 **August 20th, 2019**

 **7:00 AM**

"Saya yakin kedua-dua ini bernilai banyak."

"Of course they're worth a lot, that one over there, American military. They'll pay fortunes to get POW's back."

"Dan anda pasti mereka tidak mati?"

"Of course they didn't fucking die. I'm a professional mother fucker. All the goods I sell are top tier even if they're rough around the edges and bloodied up. In fact, watch this."

The two men walked up to the cage where their tied up prisoners were held captive and sleeping, a small smirk appearing on one of their faces in pride of the men he had captured.

"Wake up you stupid mother fuckers!" He shouted, "OR I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

His two prisoners jolted awake, one groaning in pain due to the number of bloodied glass shards that stuck out of his body.

"Ah yes, good morning my two subjects. I hope you enjoy your sleep after we knocked your asses out after such a beautiful plane crash if I do say so myself. As you can tell, you two are now my hostages. Even with the bags on your head, I can tell you're obviously lost and scared out of your little minds, aren't you?"

No response came from the two men.

"Do you neither of you two pathetic wimps even have a mouth? I'm talking to you fucking runts. I expect a god damn answer! Azmi, Azrul, remove the fucking bags. Let me see the mother fuckers I get to work with until we get some ransom cash from the U.S of fucking A's government."

"Sudah tentu tuan." The two men went to their prisoners and yanked the ragged bags off to reveal their freshly unarmed operators.

"Jesus, you should be more gentle towards your hostages." Luca complained, "I think you'd get better reactions out of it." His eyes finally laid rest on the man who was keeping them hostage, his brain going crazy over who it was.

"Are you - the little bitch who is tied up - trying to tell me how I should treat my fucking merchandise? DO I HAVE TO SHOW YOU HOW I RUN THIS SHIT? YOU MAY BE MILITARY TRAINED BUT I COULD KICK YOUR ASS ANY DAY OF THE FUCKING WEEK!" The bipolar man shouted in Luca's face, slightly spitting during each of his anger filled words.

Rather than respond and continue to taunt the man, Luca wiped his face on one of the bamboo bars that his hands weren't tied to.

"Smart ass, I have a question for you." Her said, pulling out Luca's phone. "What type of phone is this? It's really fucking nice. I like it, it's a good phone. It's just so damn complicated though when it shouldn't be. Your friend over there had some stupid custom fucking blowtorch or whatever. It's fun to play with but what's the point of carrying it around with you? The phone however, it seems like it has all sorts of usage available despite me having not a single clue on how any of these extra apps and what not works. You must be a fucking nerd man, being able to work with all this wacky shit you've got here."

"Do you actually want me to answer that question seriously, or just not answer at all? All, it seems pretty rude of you to not introduce yourself. We are your guests to this island afterall."

"First of all," The man said whipping a knife from his pocket and pointing it directly towards Luca, don't you dare fucking speak to me that way you piece of shit. Second, of course I want you to fucking explain whatever the fuck is going on when it comes to the gadget. And finally, my name is fucking Vaas. You obviously aren't native to this area if you have little to no god damn idea of who I am. ME! ME OF ALL PEOPLE, YOU DON'T KNOW! I have a problem with that you know. Everybody knows who the hell I am."

"Well, I'll just say this about the phone. I built it on my own, it's built specifically for my use only, so good luck first of all getting a good ninety percent of what's on there. Second of all, of course I don't know who the hell you are. We're western obviously."

"You son of a bi~"

"Tuan, hukuman mati sudah siap."

Vaas' glare dug straight into Luca's skull as the news broke out to him. "Very well then, let's take our guests to go witness what happens when nobody gives a flying fuck about your life."

"Wow. How dare you show me my life from like 2007 or something until late 2018."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, I WILL BE THE ONE TO SLIT YOUR THROAT IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO SHUT YOUR GOD DAMN MOUTH! I AM FUCKING SICK OF HEARING YOUR FUCKING REMARKS!"

Luca shook his head and gave the angry man a shrug in response to his little tantrum.

"Azmi, Azrul, let's escort these lousy fucks to our little play area. Simpan mata anda pada mereka."

Vaas' two soldiers grabbed two Czech looking AK-47s from behind a box and approached the cage. One kicked the door while the other untied the two operators.

"Keluar sekarang. Get move on." One demanded as he aimed his rifle at the back of Erik's head."

"Yeah yeah, we're moving…" Erik grumbled.

"Lead the way Vaas, let's see your little festival you're throwing with the rest of the people you've caught to sell off."

"Stop fucking speaking to me or you'll be part of my little festival for fucks sake. I FUCKING HATE MOUTHY LITTLE TOYS WHO CAN'T SHUT THEIR GOD DAMN MOUTHS FOR FUCKING FIVE MINUTES YOU FUCKING CUNT!"

"Alright pal, whatever you say. I'll sit back and enjoy the show."

The two followed Vaas, checking back every once and a while to see the man's henchmen following close behind them, sights already targeted at their heads if they made any funny moves. While Erik and Luca had no clue where they had been shot down at, they had a pretty damn good idea it was in a tropical area. The soil seemed to be gleaming with nutrients, the sun's flares forcing their warmth into anything the light touched, nature and all its wildlife thriving despite the corruption of the human nature they lived with. Blood. Blood was what they noticed most though, there was enough to stain the scenery, varying in color and moisture based on how recent the spillage was. It could be found on the ground, trees, bushes, bushes, houses, boxes, vehicles, and even weaponry. The blood covering the entire surrounding area began to make sense as Vaas' party. Cheering, gunshots, and screams of plea could be heard through the surrounding foliage. A huge crowd of loud and rowdy pirates came into view, their attention all focused on a cheap wooden stage that was drenched in blood and covered in many different devices that could be used to kill a person.

"Welcome to my fucking paradise you pathetic fucks." Vaas said, stopping in the clearing. "You two get to stay here, I have some business to tend to. Anda dua. Menonton mereka dan jangan menutup mata anda."

The two men pushed Erik and Luca forwards to allow them to spectate what the crowd was absolutely roaring about. They watched as Vaas appeared on the stage, multiple hostages with their hands tied up and heads covered by bags following him as well as what seemed to be some sort of janky camera crew on their trails to record whatever Vaas was doing.

Once everybody was in place, Vaas grabbed himself a megaphone and prepared to speak. "Shut up you fucks, we have some special guests who decided to drop in recently so they get to view our wonderful weekly event. This shit is only possible thanks to the families of our fellow seven hostages. Rather than cooperating with our needs and giving us our compensation for their loved one's lives, they chose to show us how they truly felt! They turned down our requests and chose to let their family members die with no second thoughts or remorse! We have no use for them anyways, so they are better off six feet fucking deep at this point. Or in a burning pile, whichever we end up deciding to do. But that's besides the fact, let's get this show on the road! First up, Joseph Walker! Despite his fucking parents being god damn doctors, they refused to cough up ten grand to get their son back. How disappointing, there's an easier option to explain this to him however! Boys! Get him in our nice little toy."

Luca, Erik, and the two guards watched as they ripped the bag from his head and freed their wrists from the ropes before forcing him into the lunette, locking his arms and neck into place.

"Time to free this fuck's mind from worrying about how his family hasn't loved him for the last 34 years."

"Bunuh dia! Bunuh dia! Bunuh dia!" The crowd chanted.

Vaas grabbed the loose rope that kept the man's head intact with the rest of his body. "Off with his head!" With one hard yank, time seemed to slow as the blade dropped. In one fell swoop, the man's head came clean off and dropped with a thud onto the wooden planks. Luca noticed Erik cringe at the sight of the man's neck spewing blood onto the platform and laughed to himself.

"It's not all that bad bud, I've done far worse."

"You're sick dude, can't believe you can watch this and hardly react…"

Luca shrugged, "It's far worse up close and when you're the one doing something like it. You end up getting used to it eventually."

"That's fucked, how did you get into Rainbow knowing how that shot is?"

"The feds. It was help you people with an issue I was working on alone originally, or rotting in a prison cell somewhere. Thankfully, my stubbornness got me out of them trying to learn my identity or from receiving fingerprint samples due to hair and skin samples coming up with zero results. That's why it took months for my name to get out to… our organization and why even now, it's redacted from everybody except for the leaders of everybody's nations."

One of the guards smacked Luca in the back of the head, "Less talk, keep watch show."

"Fuck you, but fine."

Luca rolled his eyes at the guard's glare, continuing to watch the show Vaas was putting on for them.

"Our next contestant! Piers Nivan! This old chump has four kids we've learned, all in their thirties too. They could easily pay the fee we set on this cock's head, yet refused, no matter how hesitant they were. I guess he doesn't get to live to be any older, say goodbye to any hopes of you reaching your seventies!"

Vaas set down his megaphone and grabbed the older gentleman by the shoulder to lead him towards a clear box that was the shape of a coffin and filled to the brim with water. Vaas forced the man into the coffin and sat him down while a group of four men carried a stone slab onto the stage. Luca sighed as he could already tell where this was going and was bored of it. As soon as the slab above the man, Vaas quickly plunged the rest of the man's body under the water and allowed the others to gently put the stab down on what Luca presumed to be glass. The crowd cheered at the sight of the old man flailing around helplessly in his watery grave.

"I don't fucking know how long it'll take for this fucker to drown, so while he does his thing, I'll get our next contestants out."

Vaas left the stage in a hurry but shortly returned with three more hostages he had collected from somewhere off the stage. "These three are Steve Burnside, Alexander Johnson, and Melissa Ramirez. We have a microphone attached to each of them so you can hear those glorious cracks of their necks snapping as we hang the bastards. Had to find some way to make this one fucking interesting to watch and a good loud snap will be perfect! You three, take them to the upper stage and get those ropes tied up. We have to speed this fucking process up."

The three men managed to get their stragglers up the stairs and quickly used the ropes they had by their feet to tie a noose for each of the three hostages. It wasn't long before the masks were ripped from their heads and the loops around their neck.

"Are you sick fucks ready?" Vaas shouted into his megaphone, the crowd roaring in response. "Let these bitches meet their makers!"

His three men forcefully pushed the hostages from their spots, a clean snapping noise cracking through the speakers surrounding the crowd as the bodies began to dangle and swing back and forth.

"Jesus fuck that was loud. I don't know about you guys but I think I heard me a nice echo shared between our speakers. That's not it though, we have a finale!" Luca and Erik watched as close to twenty different people, varying from the ages of early preteens to about their late 60s. "We love to chase our prey, here are our prey for the apex predators of the group to use as moving targets!"

At this point, Luca was getting sick of watching these innocent people being killed just because somebody close to them didn't pay their ransom money. It sickened him in all honesty to see more than just a few lives go to waste. Luca sat down and slowly moved to grab his hidden knife from behind the heel of his right foot. He flipped the blade up, just out of sight of the guards and began to cut his wrists free. The rope was obviously cheaply made as it snapped silently and easily. " _They really should have tied our legs up. They made this far too easy."_

Luca stood back up with his arms in front of him to not raise any suspicion, waiting for a window of opportunity to open. The sound of a voice came through one of the men's radio alerted them or something that was going on as part of this little hunting act. Thanks to humans having peripheral vision, Luca watched as the guard responded to his comrade in the radio, beginning to start his short trek on the small path back to the cage area.

"Erik." Luca whispered, getting the man's attention. "Make a distraction."

His fellow American turned to face the man, "So… how is life here on the beautiful islands."

"Turn 'round now. I no say twice." The man said pointing his gun at Erik."

"Wouldn't be too sure about that." Luca flicked around and chucked the knife. Just as Luca was hoping, the knife dug itself deep into the man's trachea, muffling his scream of agony. Luca dashed towards the man and rips the blade from his throat before slitting it horizontally to ensure a silent kill. Erik walked up to the man and stuck his wrists out, allowing Luca to cut the rope the bounded him.

"So what's the plan? We're on a fucking island where the only civilizations is fucking psychopaths."

"I'm going to be one hundred percent honest with you. I haven't got a fucking clue what we are going to do. Vaas has my phone and even if he didn't, I doubt the middle of butt fuck nowhere is going to have reception. Let's just hope the plane's black box does something for us. I don't know if they need to find it to access it, but let's hope not. I don't want to be here too long."

Erik facepalmed at Luca's response, "Unless we were being tracked by a live data feed, I'm assuming it'll be a lot longer than what you want. Just get that out of your head, we have to find safety so we can get the shards out of you and patch ourselves up. We're lucky to be alive thanks to the face that we went unconscious during the crash. Ragdolling saved our lives because our bodies decided to go fucking limp."

Luca shrugged, "Okay. Would you like my knife then since you aren't being constantly stabbed in different parts of your body?" He sarcastically said.

"I'd be delighted." Erik replied, snatching the knife from Luca's hands. "Our best chance of survival as much as I hate to say it, is to make a run through the jungle. Beaches and clearings are too open and we will get found if we go down those pathways."

"Lead the way."

Luca took one last look at the roaring crowd and the now fleeing hostages with nice big red targets on their back and shook his head. He followed Erik into the forest after grabbing the dead guard's Czech AK.

The two were careful with each step that they took, they had suspicions that it wouldn't be long before the guard's body was found and the jungle would have patrols wandering its floors in hopes of finding their expensive hostages so they had to move quickly.

In hopes of easing the tension, Luca whispered "Hey man, least it was us that this happened to. I'd say me and you are two of the best operators when it comes to shit like this, working alone or with one other person. Though I do wish Sanaa was with us as she's a survivalist expert."

"Me and you work good undercover with intel known ahead of time, not when we're shot down into a situation where we weren't prepared for the shit we are up against. So no, we are probably not the best operators for this. We just know how to work within enemy lines and not let the stress get to our heads."

"Jesus Christ, way to be a party pooper buddy. Where's the more outgoing Delta Force guy at when I need him?"

"Where's the Luca when he first joined Rainbow who would hardly speak so that we can listen to what's happening with our surroundings?"

"Touché."

The two men had been walking for a solid twenty minutes before sirens could be heard from the pirate outpost approximately a mile behind them at this point. Luca and Erik covered themselves and the gun Luca had stolen in sap so that any twigs and leaves they found would stick to their bodies and act as a sort of poor man's ghillie suit. Anxiety rose between them as gunshots could be heard coming from all around them, deep into the jungle. The lack of cars though kept their confidence high as the men who were looking for them were forced to remain close to the same pace as them. The two had no clue what time it was as they could hardly see the sun through the dense jungle and Erik's watch had been looted off of his body during the times of him being unconscious along with their weapons and gadgets.

"Do you know anything about what's edible and what isn't?" Erik asked without looking back at Luca.

"Not a clue. I blended in to society, not the wilderness. Best I know is any water is good water since the animals and people have to survive on something inland."

"Then we're not being omnivores without knowing what berries, fruits, and vegetables to what. Strictly meat for us."

"Fine by me. Exotic meat is always fun to try out since I rarely got the opportunities to go and try out fancy restaurants since a solid ninety percent of them require reservations for some bullshit reason."

"Stop bitching about first world problems. This is a fight for our fucking lives. I don't even know how you're functioning while you're at a constant state of slowly leaking blood."

"And you're acting like I haven't been in a predicament where I'm just trying to survive while. Pain has become something I can bear with and not let overcome me. If it was bad enough though, I would be searching for morphine ASAP."

"Shush! Senyap. I think I heard something."

Both of the American's eyes grew wide, both ran to the base of a tree that had a bunch of debris already at its base and hit the deck, both of them lying on top of their weapons to better conceal them. They fell silent, holding their breath to avoid making any noise possible. The sound of snapping twigs and crunching leaves alerted the Americans as the footprints could be heard getting closer and closer. They couldn't quite make out how many were in the group, but they suspected there to be four or five from small chit chat between the seekers.

"Are you sure they made it this far? We have yet to see a damn set of tracks as well as one of them in caked with once shards. I highly doubt what you're hearing is going to be them. With the one being in the American military, I don't even think he would allow himself to become so careless and get himself and his buddy caught.."

"I second that." Another man said, "He's gonna end up coming out of this fine because he is incredibly intelligent. The other guy who was dressed in more casual wear is some sort of nerd or something according to Vaas since he stole the dude's supposedly heavily modified and customized cell phone. If I had to guess, he's gotta have a basic idea of survival of the fittest."

The five men came into sight, all just carelessly glancing around their surroundings in search of the two injured operators. "See Muhad? Nobody. Not a single living animal. This is why we don't listen to you when you say something."

"I swear to fucking god," the chubby and heavier accented man said, "I heard voices. They sounded American. I'm not going bat shit, I know that they have to be here. There's no way that they aren't."

"Well clearly you're wrong. I'm amazed Vaas hasn't fired or killed you in the past. We should get moving and cover more ground, we'll surely find something, even if it's just tracks or even as low as a pile or shit or something."

Three of his men agreed while Muhad was left grumbling and cursing to himself, yet didn't hesitate to follow them off into the jungle once again. Once Erik and Luca were one hundred percent sure that they were out of earshot and far enough away to not hear the sound of the leaves covering their bodies, the two stood and began to whisper to each other. "Let's refrain from speaking from here on out, if any speech is required for communication, keep it to a maximum of a whisper. We can't risk something like this happening again because we will eventually run across of group that isn't filled with idiots." Erik declared.

"Fine, we'll do it your way. Hopefully we find a stream or something because I'm fuckin thirsty."

"Oh shut the fuck up, you'll live to get a few hours without water."

"I know, I'd just prefer to be hydrated for our little trek to find a place where we can go into hiding for a little. Besides, we're going to need some food. We've seen a good amount of snakes, they're just deadly as fuck most likely. If we kill one, out only issue is going to be their high levels of mercury."

"I saw some boar shit. If we find one of those bastards, we'll risk our position and use a gun to give it a third eye. Cook us up some pork chops or some bullshit."

 **— 9:30 PM**

Hours passed as the sun was seemingly beginning to set, the two operators hadn't come across any of their hunters, only there many traps they had set to catch the two escapees, yet were all so blatantly obvious to anybody who was to pass by. Luca and Erik had eventually swapped weapons as they both came to a mutual agreement that the man who was still somewhat numb to his injuries would be better off with the stolen firearm. They had spent the entire time in silence and serenity, the only noise was the sound of the jungle thriving around them. It has started to annoy Luca as he would always make attempts to talk to the locals as he knew small talk in most of the South American languages thanks to the amount of time he spent in the region.

"We haven't seen anybody for fuck in ages, I'm going to start speaking again, but I'll keep it quiet."

"Fine. Just shut your trap if you think you heard something. Play it the safer route just in case so we don't get found."

"If that's the case, I can say I hear the sound of running water nearby. Maybe a small waterfall or something."

Luca and Erik fell quiet to listen to their surroundings, and sure enough, the sound of rushing and crashing water could be heard off in the distance straight ahead of them. The two shared looks and began to creep it's direction, keeping an eye out for any scouts knowing that there was a high chance of them guarding the local water sources in hopes of the operators to make an appearance. It took 10 minute of silently creeping along the forest floor before they finally stumbled upon the source of the sounds that had been hearing. It was a decent sized pond surround be rocks on once side and side and grass on the other. It's source of water coming from a small waterfall pouring from the higher set of rocks. Woven baskets and a small wooden shack lied not too far off the banks of the pond.

"What do you think?" Luca asked.

"We get a drink, check the house for locals or if it's the part of the pirate's group, then get away from here while we can. It's dangerous to stay at a water source for too long, especially a fresh one."

"Whatever you say man." Luca responded, walking up to the pond. "I'm fuckin thirsty, you do you."

Erik facepalmed as Luca began drinking the water he cupped in his hands. Before getting his own drink, Erik approaches the old shack with hesitation. He wasn't sure whether to knock with his gun drawn or or keep it on his back. Saying fuck it and playing with fate, he wrapped the gun's strap over his shoulder and kept in on his back, the safety off just in case. Erik gave the door two hefty knocks before backing up so that there'd be distance between him and whoever may possibly answer the door.

Sounds of grumbling and cursing could be heard inside followed by the clicking of locks being unlocked before the door swung open. "Fuck off pirate, I'm not joining."

"I'm no pirate sir. My friend and I are escaping the pirates actually and we're wondering if you know where civilization is if anybody else inhabits the island others than those sick fucks."

"Where's your friend at?"

"Drinking some water. He's bleeding slowly due to a bunch of glass shards penetrating him after they shot our plane down. We were heading to the Philippines for a mission briefing."

"Military?"

"Something like that. More of a counter terrorist unit."

The man nodded his head knowingly, "I could possibly help you. We've been needing some professional hands to rid the infestation on the island of pirates and terrorists called White Masks it whatever."

"Then we're your guys to help clear this shit up while we're stranded here. Once a rescue unit arrives for us, I'll talk our boss into sending a few of us here to clear out your issue."

"It'll take you more than a few trained people. But forget that, follow me. You and your friend seem to be in rough conditions so I shall take you to the nearby village."

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **August 20th, 2019**

 **1:30 PM**

"So, how long until you think it'll be until your boyfriend gets back? The Philippines are a long way from here, I'd say it's easily a 16 hour long flight or so with a regular air liner. Not sure how long it would take for one of our transport planes." Eliza said, flipping through the TV channels to find something interesting to watch.

"I don't know. I just wish I had gotten to go with him as well but Erik was chosen instead. Harry hasn't even told me what the two of them are out there doing in the Philippines, just that they're out there. I'm sure Sanaa would love to know as well, she seemed to have been getting mighty close to Erik since their time here. She's an explorer and somebody who dedicates time to searching for answers, so she's probably actually dying to know what he's up to now that I think of it." Grace replied, sinking lower into the couch cushion, "Do you think that if I asked Harry what they're doing, he would tell me? Or do you think it's one of those things that's really secretive and has to do with private country things?"

"I'm not sure but he is quite the open person. Enjoys conversations so you may be able to get something out of him."

"Yeah but he could be busy. I don't want to bother the guy, he's already busy as it is, I'm sure you've seen the amount of paperwork he always has to do, meetings, both in person or over video chats, briefing us on missions, making sure everybody has been training, even going as far as to help Gus with checking in on everybody's mental conditions and psychological profiles. He does his best to maintain a family life as well. Harry does have a wife and a little girl that he has to take care of. The other operators with families, Alexsandr, and Zofia being two who had moved their family to the U.K so that they could see them more often."

"Speaking of children, have you thought about having any? Ya know, before getting older? I'd say children after 35 is a bit confusing if you can understand where I'm coming from with that."

Grace pondered for a moment, "I'm not sure if Luca wants children…"

"Awww, I'm sure he has at least thought about it. Just imagine life. You and Luca, have a nice little family. A mini you and a mini Luca running around the house, loving life, growing up to learn how badass their parents are. After they're all grown up and out doing their thing, it'll just be you and Luca living the rest of your lives together, doing whatever you please."

"It would be really nice… I just don't know how it would work with Luca refusing to be compliant with not just the British or United States governments, but anywhere in the world that's nice. He isn't even eligible to be on legal documentation of any kind. I'm the only person who has an idea of went on with him from the ages 18 to when he first joined Rainbow. The rest, not even Harry knows. Even his own form of identification is an old driver's license that is invalid now due to its age."

Eliza hopped over the back of the couch and scooted herself next to Grace, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You're his sweet girl. I'm sure you could talk him into trading in that mysterious aura surrounding him and being able to get away with anything for your sake, well being, and happiness."

"He's stubborn, he wouldn't do that. Knowing him, he'll find a loophole. He always seems to do that."

"If it works, then hey, good for him. If not, he's got the options of being on the run putting you in danger, or just obeying legal procedures. He isn't stupid girly."

"But he isn't compliant with anything government or political based."

"Hello everybody! I'm afraid we have some seriously bad news to report. As you all know, Ghost and Maverick were sent out on a mission not too long ago. I'm afraid it'll be awhile before we see them again. To not put any euphemisms on what I'm saying, I have been told that the plane that they were deployed on has either, A, crashed. Or B, been shot down. Thanks to Black Box recording, we do know that our operators did survive the initial crash so there is hope that they are alive. On the downside, we only know the general location of the wreckage due to transmission errors with the Black Box. For our two operators, closest two Ghost and Maverick, I would like to speak to you. Dokkaebi and Nomad, could you please come to my office to further discuss this matter."

Grace's body tensed up in fear that she lost the one she had fallen for and worked so hard to get him to return those feelings. The man who took her on so many glorious dates, spent countless hours together, all their laughs and memories made in the last 9 months. Just for it to all go down the drain with her man potentially dead thousands of miles away. Apparently she had completely frozen up, eyes wide and mouth gaped with Eliza violently shaking her to snap her out of it.

"Grace! Grace! Come on, everything will turn out fine! He is more than likely alive and can survive as well as having the added help of Erik! Come on!"

Tears swelled in her eyes before gently dropping to her cheeks, racing to the bottom. Eliza went to take her comrade's glasses off to wipe her tears away, but was met with Grace pushing her hands away. "Please wait for me outside of Harry's office…" She mumbled, her voice cracking in despair.

Eliza took a deep breath and nodded reluctantly before following close behind her korean friend.

Sanaa met up with the group in the hallway towards Harry's office. "I suppose that you should go in first and have a one on one with Mr. Harishva. You are broken and devastated by the news as I'm just merely saddened as I had began to form a close bond with Mr. Thorn. After all, Six is trained in psychological studies and he may be able to help your worries young one."

More tears dropped onto Grace's face as she sniffled multiple times. "Uhm.. yeah, I guess he is… That he could help me with the grief I'm going through…"

Eliza opened the door for Grace and hurried her inside before shutting the door behind her. In front of Grace was Harry would seemed to be jotting multiple things down on what looked to be a map of every island that was south of mainland Asia and near the Philippines.

"Ah yes, Grace. I'm glad you came in alone. Allows me to talk to the two of you on a more personal level so I can explain fully what's happening and what I'm attempting to do to solve it. Please, sit down if you'd like, or stand if you prefer to. Whichever you're more comfortable with."

Grace took a seat and balled up, hugging her legs, no words left her mouth.

"I understand that you are devastated over the news provided, as I am to. You see, I am doing everything within my power to go and search for that wreckage. I have search parties, professional and amateur, rescue teams from all nearby countries, and even our sister CTU team, consisting of operators Roman De La Rosa, Harding Fletcher, Mitchell Packston, Kade Summers, and Rylan Winters shall be scouring the ocean and it's many islands over the next week to help find both Ghost and Maverick. It is futile to keep looking for them, dead or alive. It's always better than an M.I.A label over their heads. They are essential to our cause and a part of our family, we guarantee to bring them back as soon and as fast as we possibly can to return them home. Chances are that if they landed on an island and not in the ocean, they will be able to survive for quite some time depending on their injuries if they did manage to survive the initial impact. If they're in the ocean, then all we can do is hope and pray that they are found soon. Not many can last in the ocean for without some sort of flotation."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Grace asked, finally wiping some of the tears off her face.

"I'm afraid not."

Grace's hopes began to drain into oblivion before she heard Harry say a single word. "Unless."

"Unless what? Just tell me, I can attempt to do anything."

"Is there a way to tell Luca's phone apart from other phones based off of cellular signal?"

"It's not completely impossible, I could try."

"I'm going to need you to search through a huge area then. We have hundreds, maybe even thousands of islands that they could have possibly been stranded on."

"There's a chance but that's if he had some sort of cellular, data, or WiFi connection or signal out there. His phone has a built in VPN to go with it and my tablet is the only device that has access through it without putting up any kind of fight. I can actually control his phone as well through my tablet if I'm within an approximate one mile proximity from the device."

"Which would be faster and better for our situation?"

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

"Me searching the entirety of the area for him. It would take too long to cover that amount of ground. Months, maybe even a year… I'm not waiting that long to find Luca and Erik." I don't have the patience to… to do so. I'd like them back as soon as possible."

"I understand that Ms. Nam. We're doing everything that we possibly can. We have government support from different countries in the region, it's all down to timing and their will to join the hunt. That is, if they want our continued support against the terrorism they may face in the future."

"Is there anything that you suggest? I'm always happy to take input and advice from my operators. After all, you're the geniuses who keep Rainbow alive, well, and running."

"Is it okay if you gave me some time? I can see what else I could possibly do for us. Check with some personal connections as well maybe…"

"Very well then, take as long as you need, the search has already begun so we're going to need all the help we can get Ms. Nam."

"Is it okay for me to take my leave now?" Grace asked, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes.

"Of course. Feel free to stop by at any time, my doors are open."

Grace nodded and stood from her seat to exit the room. Outside the doors awaited Eliza and Sanaa her we're talking about the two lost men.

"So. How did it go?" Eliza asked, patting Grace on the shoulder.

"It's gives me hope to say the least. I'm not sure what else though. I've received a walk through of what Harry is currently doing to search for our American boys. While I can say I'm impressed with everything that is currently being done, I don't know if it is going to be enough though. There's hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles that are going to be being searched through, and I'm sure that if no sign of them is found within a few weeks, I think that the attempts are going to become sparse and nearly nonexistent."

Sanaa looked uncomfortable over the situation at hand, yet remained completely calm and composed. "What about Olivier? Do we know if his drone is going to be used? I know we won't be able to spot specifics but if we see anybody out of the ordinary or away from civilization, we could at least take a chance and check it out. Hell, if they even spot the drone, there's a good chance they'll try to stand out from the crowd if they're in one. That is… well, if they lived. They did crash, we don't even know if our operators and pilot. What I don't get is how we don't know their location. It's almost like that Malaysian plane crash all over again, just with three people instead of however many were on the airliner. I'm not scared that we lost them, I'm sure they had to have survived the initial crash, I'm just scared of the possible injuries sustained or how they could have just disappeared without a trace."

"I think that it's best that you talk it out with Harry," Grace suggested, "It helped me with at least some of my worries. He'll go over what he's doing to find the two as well as talk over your personal connections with Erik. As Eliza said, he is good with anything psychological related. He can read me with ease and knows how to solve any emotions that mask my face."

Sanaa sighed and stood up. "You two go run along, I'm not sure if I'll be as fast in there as Grace was."

"Good luck Sanaa, see you around."

"You too."

Grace and Eliza watched as the Arabic women made her way into Harry's office, leaving after the door slowly forced itself closed.

Eliza looked at Graces saddened and worry filled face, concern and grief filling her body.

Without any hesitation, Eliza brought Grace into a tight hug. "Don't worry girl, we'll find our boys. They're part of Rainbow after all, they are some of the roughest, toughest, and smartest men around. It's just a matter of how long it takes for us to find them. I'm sure with lots of help, scanners, and drones, it won't be long before they're back here at home."

It took everything Grace could give to not start breaking down under just the thought of the time it would take if they were found. She knew that not many have survived such brutal plane crashes. Those who did, sustained serious, even life threatening injuries from them. "I don't know Eliza. There's so many 'if' factors that are apart of the situation that has occurred, that I'm not expecting us to find them anytime soon. I'm not even going to be worried about if they're dead or not, I'm wanting that to be a last resort. I couldn't stand to learn that our operators died due to outside factors rather than an actual mission."

"Everything will be okay! Jäger survived the helicopter crash when we had that god damn outbreak thing, Ghost and Maverick must have survived their crash, especially if it was in the water near some sort of island. They are survivalist, I'm sure everything turned out fine on their end of things."

"I do hope so…"

* * *

 **Aalborg Air Force Base, Denmark**

 **August 20th, 2019**

 ** _3:30 PM_**

 _"We all gain unexpected contacts over the years of services. Some of them though, provide more uses than others. Some become closer to you than just another contact. Most people disagree with me on this, but being friendly and being friends with somebody you're working side by side with change everything about a battle. When you're friendly with your partners, your obligations are a solo matter. You're working for yourself and your own needs, it's a matter of survival for you. It isn't until the end of the mission that you feel the sensation of pride for your nation. But when fighting alongside a contact who you deem worthy enough to put the title of 'friend' on? It's a whole different story. You have something to fight for. You aren't alone, you have somebody where their death would change something in your life. All it takes is a single perfectly landed bullet to watch the life drain from a friend's rage, followed by a lifetime's worth of grief and rage. Some of us however, don't get to that stage. We're forced into a situation that pushes us into a primal stage hidden deep within our bodies. To keep on fighting, even when pushed into a corner with no escape. You're giving it all you've got but in the process, that friend of yours gets shot multiple times in both the stomach and leg. Things seem hopeless as fear and anxiety fills your head. But then, poof. An opportunity shows itself. You don't like it's requirements and you offer to stay till the end. With your friend's last bit of fight and will they had in their body, they force you to take the chance to escape, to survive, to lose your worry over them and to think selfishly with somebody who you've been nothing short of selfless with. It's a life changing moment, you expect to see that person waking up the next day. Just to go on day by day, week by week, month by month, now year by year just waiting for your chance to apologize, to see them one last time in a non-bloodied and injured form. But you have to move on from those experiences. They make you stronger, they make you like a spider. In my instance, the only thing I feel when I pull the trigger is recoil. I have no remorse or mercy to give to my enemies anymore."_

 _—_

 _"You're at the coffee shop as I asked, correct?"_

"Of course Lieutenant, you said that I had the opportunity of a lifetime awaiting for me. So I am at the meeting point you decided. I assume it is some sort of promotion?"

 _"That one is up to you m'lady, as it's up to you whether you would like to accept the offer. I hope you don't mind another phone call once I do arrive, it's with somebody with far more power than I retain in this world."_

"Of course sir, my entire life has been about decisions. I'm prepared to make the decision here as well as many more in the future. It all comes with the job."

 _"Well I'm glad to hear that Nøkk. I'm just down the street."_

"Of course, our drinks have already been ordered, black as you like it."

 _"Thank you, I'll see you in less than five or so minutes."_

"Don't keep me waiting for too long."

Nøkk put her phone down and played with her hair and fingers, waiting for the arrival of both her upper commander and their drinks. To much of her surprise, her commander had actually arrived before their drinks.

"Lt. Soren," She spoke, standing to shake his hand, him returning the gesture, "Glad you could make it, you were mighty speedy to have beaten out drinks here."

"Of course, I told you I wouldn't be long dear. After all, this is a very important phone call. Though I should warn you this, the man you shall be on call with is going to be… well, vague in different properties of his explanation. I'm sure you'll understand what he will be speaking about though."

"Are we awaiting a call from him or do you have access to him?"

"We are awaiting a call from Mr. Pandey, he can explain what you'll be getting into, the pros, cons, and your duty while under him."

"Of course sir, expect no less."

"Good, good. I hope you're prepared for the extent of what you're going to put through."

Nøkk went to respond but was shortly cut off by the waiter delivering their drinks. The two thanked her and continued their conversation.

"I'm sure that you'd enjoy the new company though, I can assure you of that."

"And I trust that you speak the truth. However, you know me. I am not a woman of small talk, no matter what the situation. I prefer either a full on conversation or silence if you don't mind." Nøkk said, flashing the man across from her a smile.

"Fair enough my friend, we shall await for the call in silence while we enjoy our coffee. As you already know, I'm not a man who wants to waste my breath."

"Let's keep it that way."

He gladly nodded and began sipping on his coffee. The two were perfectly at home in the silence, comfortable with the lack of awkwardness it held between them as they anticipated the phone call. Nøkk watched the clock consistently, five minutes passed, the danish girl was slightly impatient but didn't let it get the best of her. Luckily for her, Lt. Soren's phone sent vibrations through the table.

"Took a little while longer than I had personally expected, but I'm sure he's probably busy, especially in a situation like this." Lt. Soren said, scooting the phone towards his acquaintance.

"Thank you sir," She replied, accepting Mr. Pandey's call. "Hello?"

 _"Ah yes, hello there! I believe you must be Ms. Nøkk?"_

"Indeed I am, Mister."

 _"Ah, perfect! I'm glad to finally meet you. My name is Harishva Pandey, but you can just call me Harry. May I ask if you're in a public place or in a private area quickly?"_

"Lt. Soren and I are currently at a coffee shop, I could go outside where people will more than likely be ignoring me if you were to prefer that." Nøkk said, before muting the call. "For somebody who is oh so powerful, he seems really laid back joyful, and honestly, way too casual and lacks seriousness."

"Just take my phone and go outside. You'll learn more." She rolled her eyes and unmuted the phone.

 _"Whichever you would prefer to Ma'am, I trust that you'll pick the area that seems like a better choice."_

"Okay, just give me one moment please." Nøkk swapped the call from speaker to a regular call and stood up from her seat to talk outside.

"Good luck, make the decision you think is best for your future." The Lieutenant assured her.

Once outside, Nøkk resumes the conversation. "My apologies, I'm outside now."

 _"Ah, perfect. Before I say anything about my offer, I do have a question for you if you don't mind. It's a little personal and has due to your previous records if that's okay."_

"Go on."

 _"Do the names Erik 'Maverick' Thorn and 'Ghost' sound familiar to you at all?"_

Nøkk's eyes widened as she held her breath at the question. She quickly shook off her shock, "They do indeed ring a bell."

 _"I'd hope so as I've been informed of your relationship with both. You played a major role in finding Thorn after he been M.I.A for two years back in Kabul, Afghanistan. I was informed of you two having shared experiences in combat afterwards afterwards. Is there anything you have to say about him that I should know?"_

"No sir, but I do have a question of how it's brought you to me. All of my information is hidden from the public eye."

 _"It must be a good thing that I'm not considered the public then. As for my other operator, Ghost, do you know anybody who went off that alias?"_

"I do but I can guarantee you see the Ghost I know isn't the one you're talking about."

 _"I would believe you if it weren't for the fact that one of my operators brought up to me about a danish woman he knew by the name of Nøkk. After plenty of searching, you're the only one I have found who matches the profile of both his friend, as well as meeting Mr. Thorne. Is there any information I should know about Ghost?"_

"Sir, the Ghost you are talking about is not the Ghost I know. The one I know died years ago."

 _"Maybe, maybe not. I guess there is only one way to surely know, that is, if you are interested. You see, I am extending an invitation to you to join the Counter Terrorist Unit 'Rainbow', a special group that contains some of the best operatives from around the globe. While we normally wouldn't send out these invitations for another month or two, this is a special circumstance. Those two exact operators I asked you about have gone M.I.A after a plane crash occurred somewhere in either the Indian or Pacific Oceans. Due to them missing, we have need of recruiting two more highly skilled and trained candidates. With our first one being chosen, Collinn 'Warden' McKinley from the United States' very own Secret Services, we would like you to be our very first operator from Denmark's very own Jaeger Corps. You meet our requirements and we here at Rainbow would be honored to have you join our team, other information about the group however, will be given upon arrival to our Headquarters so that we don't have the public eye forced down our throats."_

"Where do I sign up Mr. Pandey?"

 _"Nine AM on the 29th at Aalborg Air Force Base. Bring bags with your weapons, uniforms, and other gear that you require as well as a few other bags filled with things that make you feel at home to decorate your room with. This includes clothing and other personal objects as well. Am I clear?"_

"Yes sir, I will do my best to arrive early."

 _"Good, I'll have a plane sent to the Base to bring you to us. I do hope that you very much so have a wonderful rest of your day. If you do have any questions or concerns that I may possibly be able to answer later on, please contact Lt. Soren as he'll be your only access to me."_

"Okay, thank you. You also have a good rest of your day, goodbye."

 _"Goodbye to you too dear."_

Nøkk ended the call and walked back into the coffee shop, taking her seat back next to Lt. Soren.

"So how did the talk go? You accepting the offer?"

"I already have and I'm going to have to cut our time together short as I'm due to pack my stuff up, I leave tomorrow morning from Aalborg AFB."

"That's wonderful news. I do hope you'll consider calling or writing to us back here at home sometime for the duration of however long you'll be in that sort of work force."

"I plan to. But I need answers first on who knows something about somebody I know. So if you don't mind, I'll be taking my coffee to go. I'd like to be ready in advance."

"Fell free to just call me if you need help with something or change you mind."

"Of course Lieutenant, you've always been one of the closest people to me."

* * *

 **Asian Pacific Archipelagos**

 **August 20th, 2019**

 **11:00 PM**

Erik warmed his hands by the fire as he watched one of the locals carefully picking the glass shards from his friend's backs. The two hadn't talked much as they were just enjoying the warm cups of tea provided and the fire to keep them company.

"So… You starting to feel better now that any small movement doesn't cause you to get partially stabbed in the back?" Erik asked, partially joking.

"Dude, I don't think you understand how much it hurts having this woman yanking everything out from my body. I'm just trying to keep my cool so that we don't have attention brought our way."

"How about we just have a conversation? Maybe it'll get your mind away from the pain. We can just talk and maybe even get to know each other better since who knows how long we're going to fucking be here. I've been undercover over in Afghanistan before, but this is completely different. I loved the culture there, the people who didn't have terroristic intentions were some of the nicest men, women, and children I have ever met. Here? All we've come across other than a small group of locals are some Asian pirates or whoever the fuck they are. I'm not too keen on having to deal with them, especially with only a knife and an AK-47 with only a single magazine."

"Sure thing man, what would you like to talk about then?" Luca asked, cringing as the Asian woman yanked another chunk if glass from before quickly putting three more stitches into his back.

"I'm not sure, I guess we can get to know each other better. Like, uhm, what did you do before joining Rainbow? I know we're buddies and all, but I don't think we've actually talked about your life before joining us. You've definitely got some sort of training and some other advanced shit under your belt. I'm curious to know more actually because you're a very mysterious man. I've heard that Grace is the only person who knows anything about your past minus the name."

"There's a reason for that, it's not a very bright last I've got shining behind my back. There is no pride, there is no glee, is a cold, dark road."

"Well, lets fucking hear it because now you piqued my interest." Erik said, stretching across the log he was sitting on to get more comfortable.

"Where should I begin? I have plenty to speak about."

"Your persona, Ghost. You've proven multiple times that there seems to be something that differs you from your actual self when that mask goes on. I'm interested to know why that is, it has to do with pains from inside, doesn't it?"

Luca glared at him before wincing at more glass being pulled from his upper back. "You do realize how personal a lot of these questions are, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Because I'm sure we're going to be here for a while, I have nothing to fucking lose with you knowing this information. Should I just tell you my life story? I'm not going to give you everything, but I'll give you the basic that even Grace could give to you."

"Whatever you're comfortable with."

"Then I guess I'll begin with how this shit started. You remember that terrorist attack at that one mall in Nevada, January 29th of 2007?"

"Yeah, I was in my early 20s at the time, I was furious over it because they had killed twenty or thirty innocent people."

"Rightfully so, my family and I happened to be there during that shooting. They weren't as lucky as I was."

"Did the security guards save you?" Erik asked, intrigued by where his friend was going with this story.

"Fuck no they didn't, I'm the one who fucking killed them. I found the body of one of those damn security guards and fought for my ducking life with that shitty pistol of his and fucking booked it. The White Masks cut all camera feeds so they just fucking guessed or something of who died and they must have seen the body of somebody who was my age at the time and considered it me. I was verified as dead for nearly thirteen fucking years man. I got to do whatever the hell I wanted thanks to being off the radar."

"Wouldn't you have wanted to prove to the world that you lived though? It's a great thing to be an American citizen, so much freedom in our country than others."

Luca glared into Erik's eyes, "Tell me this Thorne, where's the fun in freedom when it renders you a slave?"

"How the hell does freedom render us slaves?" Erik asked, throwing his hands up.

"Because it forces you into fucking routine. Doing the same shit over and fucking over with very little change. You become a part of a huge fucking group, thinking you have the power but you don't. Me? I was able to literally do whatever the fuck I wanted. I was young and fucking desperate so I did what I needed to do for the next nearly decade after the death of my parents. My life was nothing but crime so that I could feed myself, I was nothing but a petty little thief for two years before I went full fucking professional with it. Ever heard of the Payday Gang?"

"I swear to god if you say you were a member of them…" Erik mumbled to himself while nodding slightly for Luca,

"I was offered to work for them thanks to me being off the radar, they trained my ass to be a silent fucking killer and even helped me with the two things I loved most, hacking, and working on shit so I took up the opportunity. Can you see why I'm so quiet about my background? I'm not a good person."

"Wait, I don't get it," Erik pondered, "Didn't you do shit against the White Masks as well? I remember talking to Jordan and Craig about you before and they mentioned you clearing entire Mask outposts dating all the way back to 2009."

"Redemption is a hell of a thing brother. I may have been apart of Payday, but I vowed to never put civilians in danger. Not once did I kill during our heists except for our raids against crooked PMCs, Gangs, or even crooked cops. I may have been apart of the world's most infamous crime group, but I'm for the fucking people. Not once did an innocent soul die to my hands." Luca said, not including parts about how he would kill innocent people if needed to get to the White Masks, "I've been for the people even since I lost everything. I still am to this day. As for you original question, it's because of the mask. It's something I had from a few Halloweens before the death of my parents and it's what I put on immediately after I got home to quickly grab shit I needed before leaving to live with a friend as I hadn't graduated high school yet and I had already been removed from its books shortly after they learned of my supposed death. I robbed people in the streets at night and that mask hid my identity, and it stuck. I needed a mask as I started to get into bigger jobs and shit. I got the name Ghost from the White Masks and the CIA because the could never find me as well as never were able to learn who I was. I was undetectable for the most part, nobody could track me down worth of shit, but you're right. I did work alone against large numbers of those terrorists."

So you were a good guy in a bad guy's skin is what I'm understanding from this. How the fuck did you manage going from the biggest crime syndicate the world had even seen, to one of the most secretive and unknown Counter Terrorist Unit around? That shit doesn't add up."

Luca raised his arms to allow the local to begin the bandaging process after she managed to pull all the bloodstained glass from his back, shoulder, and even a few parts of his neck, "That's where I even lose track of it. But I do think that it is because they have no clue that I was apart of a giant ass fucking criminal syndicate, I would be put behind bars fucking immediately despite no innocent casualties coming from me. I actually left the Payday Gang back in 2014 or 2015 after helping pull off what our leader I guess you could call him the ultimate heist which is part of why Payday is disbanded now, I strictly went after White Masks only. Whether it was back in South America like the Santa Blanca Cartel in Bolivia, the Cambridge Takeover in Massachusetts, or even the hunt for the hidden base near Baker Lake in Nunavut, Canada, the last place I worked with one of my best partners, a danish gal that went by the name of Nøkk, she was part of the military over there but I honestly have no clue what she was doing in Canada, but she was interesting and good company. We got into a shootout with the White Masks and I had been shot in my right leg twice, once in the stomach, and once in the shoulder. My body was running on pure adrenaline for a while before it finally gave out, I forced her to leave me behind. I don't remember much after that except for talking to Canadian military members who tended to my wounds and kept trying to find out who I was. Left as soon as I got the chance despite the injuries and never got to see that Dane again. I'm just hoping she survived the incident, she helped keep me under the radar and away from the public."

"A danish woman named Nøkk? I think I do actually know who you're talking about."

"Oh, do you now?" Luca deadpanned, "You just so happen to know the same gal as I do but you were in the Middle East."

"We met her at different times shitwad, she's the one who found me after I went undercover for those two years in Afghanistan, never got to see her face but I know that everybody called her a frog lady due to that veil thing she hid her face with."

"I guess we are talking about the same chick then as I doubt there's more than one Nøkk in the Jaeger whatever the fucks they call themselves. I don't know. Know anything about her?"

"Not much really. Never even saw her face. You?"

I know a decent chunk and have seen more than just her face lad. Lady looks good in purple lipstick though I tell ya."

That got a small chuckle out of Erik with a bonus smile from seeing Luca basically being mummified by his Asian tender. "So, what was the scenario that had you end up joining us over at Rainbow?"

"The fucking feds, who the fuck else? I swear, I was just slightly too slow and careful during a damn firefight I got caught up in and it caused the C.I fucking A to bust in and arrest me after I gathered everything I needed for my next hit. Not only did the fucks take all that from me for their own usage, but I was stuff in some fucking glass cage that had a label saying 'Ghost' for a few days followed up by them questioning me, seeing if there was anything I knew that they should as well as more identification bullshit as I wouldn't come up in their database. I mean, I did tell them everything I knew about the Masks that I thought they should know, but those greedy bitches wanted more and kept pushing. It finally came to a standstill where they gave up and took what they had before throwing me back in that glass cage. Took an entire week for somebody to come by and offer me two choices. A. being a life sentence at a maximum security prison under strict supervision some place off in a desert so I couldn't escape and if I did, I wouldn't survive after a week. B. being my ass got shipped to the United Kingdom and I join Rainbow, a group I had known existed but didn't know if had a name as Taina, Meghan, and Emma had all talked about it when I had first originally met them back in Bolivia while dealing with the cartel."

"Sounds like it was a pain in the fucking ass my friend."

Luca shook his head, just a nuisance man, nothing more. My moral standards kept me with them for far too long. But thats enough about my life as now you know too much. Any stories you feel like sharing to me?"

"Fuck it dude, where should I start about my life before Rainbow?"

* * *

 **Fuck, 12k words later and the chapter is finally done.**

 **Not much to say in this author's note except for late Merry Christmas everybody as well as a happy 1st birthday to this story. In a single year, this story has gained 48 favorites, 57 follows, 23 reviews, and 13,000 views. That is fucking insane and I thank everybody who reads this for making it nearly my most popular story. I fucking love you all.**

 **As for the next chapter, I will try to have it done by the end of January or early February.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, favorites, follows, and reviews are appreciated and welcome as well as criticism is welcome too. But until next chapter, I am out. Ciao!**


	16. Rough Side

**Okay, I understand how long it has been since the last time I updated this story.  
**

 **I do apologize for the wait as I could have had this chapter out ages ago. One of the main reasons why it took as long as it did to write this one mainly because of all the distractions and the quarantine. I originally wrote this story back in Washington but now that I once again live with my father, there were more things here to keep me occupied compared to the Tri-Cities which made me extremely unproductive. With quarantine starting as well, I have little to no reason to write yet I did everything but writing until mid April. I have started writing again since I first started the chapter in January, I just don't know when I'll have it finished or posted. I just promise to have it posted the moment I finish writing it.**

 **Thank you for everybody that stuck around waiting for a chapter and everybody who is checking out the story for the first time and skipped to the newest chapter. I appreciate you stopping by.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter and i will see you all next time.**

* * *

 **Hereford Base, England**

 **August 30th, 2019**

 **11:00 AM**

"You called, sir?" A worn out Grace said as she entered her boss's office.

"Why yes, I'm glad that you got here so quickly. Please, have a seat. I understand that you've been working day and night, doing everything within your capabilities to get a location on Mr. Ghost and Mr. Maverick for over the past week. I think that you deserve a break, madam. We don't want you to push and overwork yourself as it's easily noticeable that you'll eventually getting to your breaking point. I wanted you to be the first to know - before even Thatcher and Thermite - about our two newest operators, one of which was the one the track down Maverick while he was M.I.A in Afghanistan, she's very talented and could be very useful in the hunt for our operators. The other, he was apart of America's secret service and he was actually recommended to me by Madam Six. I wanted your opinions on the two of them before they arrive in the next hour or so."

Grace let herself yawn, hoping to not come off as rude, because she had lost so many hours of sleep, "I don't know… If they're useful to Rainbow, then I guess they're fine. Newbies to Rainbow is not my forte, it did take ages to have my own boyfriend tolerate me being around him, though we weren't dating at the time. Is there anything else that I should know about them?"

"Remember how you told me that Ghost has mentioned somebody named Nøkk?" Harry asked, Grace nodding in response, "Well, I did lots of research. It's taken a few months as well as thank you to the help of friends and friends of friends and so on, but I manage to track a danish woman down who went by that name, and primarily only that name. I had a phone call with her a little over a week ago, she guarantees that she knows Maverick and what makes me think that she's the exact woman that Ghost was talking about it due to the fact that she's done some work in Canada and swears that the Ghost I mentioned, is guaranteed to not be the one she knows as he was, and I quite, 'A secretive figure, never let anybody know a thing about him. He is what goes bump in the night and is nothing more than mere shadow."

"Sounds like the gal he mentioned. Though what he said was that she was far less talkative, spoke with actions more than anything."

"Times change, I'm sure that was long ago as she wasn't willing to give out anything on your boyfriend. Which does remind me, when he is found, could you please get permission from him to tell me about his past? I would love to know what made him into who he is today. His story is one that fascinates me as he's just so unknown. What everybody besides you knows is what he considered necessary, like his meetings with our operators in the past. Anyways, we're getting off topic. I have one request for you, can you talk to and get to know Nøkk? I'm sure that talking to her would help motivate you and maybe even allow you to learn more about Ghost if you can manage to get her to open up to you."

"I will do my best to, but it isn't a priority for me if that's okay. I'd like to keep most of my focus on finding Luca's signal somewhere out there since if we find him, we'll also find Maverick."

"Very well, I can accept that you'd like to find our two missing operators as long as you don't keep yourself separated from the rest of the team."

"I'll make sure to get out and socialize with the others, I promise." Grace said, pushing her glasses partially off her face to rub the sleep from her eye."

"Thank you, I appreciate it Dokkaebi. I'll be sure to inform Thermite and Thatcher to bring our new danish family member to you after she receives the tour, they won't be presenting themselves like Mr. Mozzie and Mrs. Gridlock did."

"Okay, I'll probably be in Luca's room as normal scouting down electronic signals from everywhere possible. I've found a couple interesting ones might I note, but other than that, I haven't actually found anything that completely aligns with Luca's phone which really does suck. This is almost like that one Malaysian flight from a few years back."

"Indeed it is my dear, but don't lose your hope. This one was a small plane flying at a lower altitude as well as speeds. If they had been knocked out during the crash sending their bodies into a sort, we'll, rag doll form, then their bodies would be much more resistant if their bodies slammed around against the plane due to none of their muscles having tensed up. There's no doubt in my mind though about them both having concussions after an incident of that sort."

Grace sighed, "Thank you for the reassurance Harry… Is that all the information I need to know and may I be dismissed Sir?"

"Yes it is and thank you for your time, you are dismissed Miss Dokkaebi."

"Thanks Harry, I'll let you know if I get any whereabouts of our boys' location."

Harry nodded and grabbed the radio that allowed him to broadcast to the entirety of the building. "Thermite and Thatcher, could you please meet me at my office."

Grace stood from her seat and left the room, immediately heading back to Luca's room as her room is just a vacant extra at this point. She opened the door and walked in, allowing the draft to close the door behind her. A long sigh followed up by a groan released from her as she sat at Luca's old desk and opened her laptop. "Why do I even bother at this point? I've found jackshit at this point and there's still so much to go." She complained, covering her face with her arms. Grace has worked so hard over the last ten days and had made literally zero progress in finding her American comrades. Taking a deep breath, she sat back up and stretched, preparing for another long day of work gone to waste.

* * *

 **An Hour Later**

Grace's phone gently vibrated next to her laptop forcing her attention to swap to the smaller electronic device. _"I was informed by Harry to escort our new operator, Nøkk, to you and Luca's room so that you could be one of the first to get to know her on a personal level. I'm telling you this in advance so you can prepare yourself and what not as I am not sure what Harry expects to happen between you two. She seems to be a really quiet and reserved individual."_

Grace picked up the phone and replied, _"Thank you Jordan for letting me know in advance. I guess I'll get ready as I'm not exactly out of my sweats and t-shirt. Gotta throw something a bit more professional on."_

 _"Agreed. We'll be there in a few minutes. Better be ready by then."_

The korean sighed and stood from her desk, going to her and Luca's closet to get a nice collared shirt and a pair of black jeans following with her regular black high tops. Not sure about how much time she truly had, Grace quickly threw her hair into a messy bun and called it good enough. Close to thirty seconds passed by as she awaited for her special guest to arrive, a knock on the door got her attention fairly quick.

Grace cracked her neck and cleared her throat as she approached the door. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat over the last hour, Grace opened the door and greeted her visitors. "Good morning Jordan," Her attention swapped to the woman standing next to him. The woman had short, black hair, eerie brown eyes, and in Grace's opinion, some stunning purple lipstick. "You must be Nøkk, please correct me if I'm wrong."

"You are correct, the name is Nøkk." She said in an extremely monotone voice.

"Grace 'Dokkaebi' Nam, if what Harry has told me is true, me and you are sure to have some interesting conversations." Grace replied, sticking her hand out for a handshake in which the danish woman willingly returned. "Make yourself at home for a while. I'm going to be working while we speak if that's alright with you." Nøkk nodded, "Sounds good then. Jordan, you can get back to your office and do office things."

Jordan shrugged and turned away to leave. "False!" He claimed, "My happy ass is going to go watch some mothafuckin tv today."

Grace rolled her eyes and moved to make space for their new operator to enter the room and shut the door behind her. "Make yourself at home, I've been the only one to use the room recently."

Nøkk sat down at the foot of the bed while Grace sat back down at her desk and opened up her laptop to continue where she left off at. "Did Harry inform you of why he wanted you to speak to me of all the people here?"

"No, he did not. I was only informed about needing to talk to Dokkaebi - you -, and a French woman by the alias of Twitch. That the two of you had information on a certain person that I had worked with earlier in my life."

"Ghost?"

"That was what he went by but as I told Mr. Pandey, he's been dead for years now."

"Can you describe him to me? Personality, looks, whatever you could give me? Because I was informed that you know Erik 'Maverick' Thorn as you helped find him after two years of him being M.I.A or something, which he is currently M.I.A again."

"Cocky and hard headed are definitely the two they come to my mind. He was bold though, tried always being the good guy no matter the situation he would get himself into. As for looks, I can't actually tell you. He was a decent enough friend of mine over the maybe three or four years of us knowing each other, I never got to see his face. He refused to eat, drink, or anything that required him to take off his mask."

"Black with a skull on it?" No response came from the danish woman. "Guess that answers that question of mine." Grace scooted her chair back and opened the main drawer of the desk. "I guess you are in the right place after all," She said, tossing Luca's mask onto the bed for Nøkk to see.

Nøkk's eyes grew wide and her chest tightened. "Where did you get this?"

"This is his room. The yellow sports car outside, I assume you saw it, is his."

"How long has he been here?" Her voice was dead and cold at this point. Grace could hear the anger building up in her voice as she continued to scan all the different signals throughout various island in the Indian Ocean.

"Almost a year. The FBI or CIA caught him during one of his raids against the White Masks and gave him the option between prison or joining us as they had apparently been documenting his raids for the last like… I dunno, 7 or 8 years. Finally got his ass on the end."

"That's a rude way to say they captured him."

"I'm dating him, he wouldn't mind it. I was actually wondering something. I wanted to make an offer as I don't think you'll be so willing to tell me information unless I exchange some as well. So ask away, just know I expect answers to my questions in return."

Silence filled the room for a solid 5 minutes which didn't bother Grace at all. To fill the absence of sound, she quickly went to YouTube and began playing a LoFi Music stream in the background of her work. "If it makes you more comfortable, his name is Luca Pirelli. First went off the radar at the age of 18."

"I thought he died ages ago. I watched as he bled out from five or six different bullet wounds in a White Mask compound just shy of Baker Lake in the Nunavet of Canada. We executed one of their head generals of the time and were making our escape when they cut us off at a path we didn't expect anybody to be at. All their landed shots except one hit him, the stray hit me just just above my bladder. He forced me to leave him after I killed the four White Masks because he knew I had no chance of escaping if I tried bringing him with me. Returned after we knew the base was cleared and empty. No bodies were left, just the blood stains that covered the area and a dried puddle of blood covering the wall and ground where he sat. I knew him for easily three or four years at the time and it was the first time I had somebody I considered a close friend, die seemingly right in front of me. While his 'death' wasn't exactly my fault, I did put myself in a bad situation as beforehand, I refused to get too close to others personally that I worked with out of fear of this happening. Of course, I had friends who died while we were out in the Middle East. But I didn't grieve for them as I did Ghost. For somebody I had never even seen the true identity of, he was there when I needed him anytime he was in Canada as well as we'd talk over the phone or text every once and awhile."

"And nothing after that? Never tried to get into contact with you?"

"Never."

Grace spun in her chair to face the danish woman, multiple thoughts rushing through her brain of all the possibilities.

"That phone of his, do you know where hr kept it? Regular pocket or in one of the others?"

"He kept it in his right pocket during our raid."

"Is it possible that it got shot and possibly prevented a bullet from wounding that area of his leg? Knowing him, he'll push through whatever happens, especially if those legs of his were left untouched."

Nøkk gave it some thought and shrugged. "I don't know. I've done my best to forget the scenario over the years. It's one of the many things in my life that I feel are better left forgotten."

"Maybe, maybe not. Here, I want you to see something since I think it'll mean a lot to you after all these years." Grace said, turning back around to pull up a picture that would blow the new operator's mind. "Take a look at this." The picture in question was a selfie Grace had taken a few months back, she her arm wrapped around Luca's shoulder, both of them with a beer bottle in their right hands and goofy drunken smiles covering their faces.

"That's… him and you? How old is this picture?" The danish woman asked, staring at Luca's face.

"Few months old. That was after a successful mission and we were drinking with some of the other Americans that are part of the group and all the Russians, it was a way to calm Luca's nerves. He still has some paranoia that sneaks up on him that began sometime in his early twenties because he was always on the move, running or hiding from something as he did his own work."

Nøkk stared at the picture, scanning every detail of both Luca and Grace's faces with nothing but silence following.

"You know of this paranoia, right?"

Nøkk sighed and nodded.

"Do you know why?"

"I think I do but I don't know if you do…"

"P.D."

"Payday…"

"Anything you know that I don't? I'm the only other operator here who knows anything about his time in the Payday Gang." Grace asked.

"I don't think so… He was planning to leave them at the time but I don't know how soon after I guess that time was since he has obviously left."

"Any stories that he told you specifically?"

"Not any I would personally deem worthy or important enough to bring up right now."

Grace crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, thinking of what else there was to go over. Coming up with nothing, she sighed. "Well I guess that's all we needed to go over, at least for now anyways, you're free to either stay here or go do whatever you please, I do know that you've only met three of the like, I don't know… 46 of us?"

"If it's alright with you, I do think I would much prefer to stay here and leave introductions for a later time. I'm not much of a people person."

"Fine by me, just don't go through stuff without asking if you don't mind."

* * *

 **Asian Pacific Archipelagos**

 **September 14th, 2019**

 **8:00 AM**

"Are you sure you're ready to go out and do some shit? I've only been scouting the past couple of weeks to map out the island and where enemy outposts, weapons caches, vehicle storage facilities, etc are. I know you're fully capable to clear out all of the above but that's when you're in your physical prime. You've been taking a shot of morphine daily as well as the locals that have helped aid you informed me that you occasionally pick at the stitches in hopes of trying to go out and explore like I do. Besides, Grace wouldn't like you doing any of that."

Luca looked up from the magazine a villager has donated to him and stared Erik right in the eyes. "Grace wouldn't like anything I've done. That's why I don't say the things I have done. But anyways, I'm heading out tonight actually. One of the local rebellious teenagers got one me a gun from one of the pirate's loads. Rumor has that they've been stealing from the Russians recently."

"Seriously? We're trying to fucking make it out of here alive. Not you drugged the fuck up going around killing anybody who looks at you wrong." Erik said, throwing his hands up in complaint.

Luca just shrugged in response, "I'm not the type to sit around and wait. I'll do anything to quite frankly avoid situations like that. It's why I'm not afraid to do drugs and shit. If I die an early death from em, oh well. I prefer that over dying to a filthy fucking White Mask. You gotta understand man, my standards may be fucked up, but they keep me moving along better than any other sort of motive I have."

"Let me guess, I can't stop you."

"Of fucking course you can't stop me! Ya boy is going to go fuck shit up." Luca shouted, clearing his throat after the statement. "Well, attempt to. I don't plan to die on this island so I'll be having to take some safety precautions and avoiding fight that I know I won't win. The locals said I'll have to wait like a week or two I think it was. His English was severely broken." The American said in a much softer and quieter tone.

Erik shook his head and walked to the desk where he had a map traced out of what he thought the island looked like including various markers pointing out noticeable areas, as well as their current location. "Come here, I'll show you where I know you're able to do something on your own as long as you have a vehicle."

Luca stood up from the bed he had spent a good 75% of his last week on and reached under it to retrieve the stolen PP19 Bizon from underneath.

"I'm ready to fuck shit up."

One of Erik's eyebrows rose at the sight of the submachine gun but didn't question it. "Okay. So this is our location here, the red dot of blood. If you follow the path behind this house, you will come across a patrol that is guarding a path charging the locals cash to get through. Continue following the road and there will be a fork in the road. Go on the right path and you shall come to this dead end here, the blue pedal on the map, coming across one of their small weapon caches. I'll supply you with some bandages, a box of matches, a Walkie talkie I stole, and a single grenade. After killing the pirates at that cache, it's up to you whether you want to destroy the weapons and ammunition, or save it and have me send some of the locals your way so that they'll be able to fight back."

"Do you know what they're armed with?"

"I only saw old worn out AK47s my guy. You'll be fine, I doubt their iron sights are even correct, they're probably rusted to shit and bent or something. You'll be fine. I trust your skills and instincts enough that you'll be back by sunset." Erik opened one of the drawers and took out everything he said and gave it all to Luca as well as a makeshift utility belt to hold anything extra he got his grubby little hands on. "If you're wondering, you have those matches if you do fuck up and end up getting fucking shot. I think you know what the rest of the procedure afterwards. It's nothing that you haven't done I assume."

Luca took everything that his partner had prepared for him and stood up to prepare himself and have the gear sorted out. "So you sure about this?"

"I wish I wasn't."

"Sick, okay. I'll be back soon."

"You remember where I said to go, correct?"

"Yeah of course I do. Go behind our current location, pass those pieces of shit guards, then at that fork in the road, take a right which leads me to a dead end where the weapon cache is. No need to worry." Luca replied, grabbing the Walkie Talkie off his belt loop and spoke into it. "I'll contact you or whoever gets their hands or ears on whatever is listening to me when I've captured or destroyed their gear. Do me a favor, find out whatever you can about Vaas. I want him dead and my shit back."

Erik facepalmed, "Yeah sure whatever. Just go get your job done. I'll talk to the locals who do know English if they know anything. There's some cult or something nearby that has been helping the civies so who knows, I may try and get ahold of them."

Luca returned his Walkie Talkie to his belt loop and gave Erik a nod of thanks before leaving the building.

 _"Well, I guess he wasn't joking when he said he recommends a to get around."_ Luca thought as he saw an old toyota truck and three ATVs parked in front of the building. _"The truck will be harder to sneak by with but I can take the shit back with me. I could just dump the truck somewhere and go ahead to clear a path for myself… Nahhhh, I'll be good."_

Luca hopped on the only ATV that had its keys already in the ignition and began his trek to all the weaponry. For the most part, basically all the roads were dirt and the surrounding areas were all jungle. It wasn't the fact of the unknown of what could possibly be in those jungles that could kill him with ease, it was that he knew what could possibly be hiding in those lands. A shiver worked its way down his spine at the thought of all the possible killer insects that lurkered upon the forest floors rather than anything that could just rip him to shreds or even inject venom into his systems after a harsh bite.

* * *

 _An Hour Or So Later_

"How long do you think it'll take your friend to do anything to those men? They terrorize everybody here constantly and we need them gone!"

"Look," Erik said, turning around to face the local, "I can't promise anything. My friend and I aren't supposed to be here. Hell, I'm not even sure how most of you guys know at least some English here on this remote island. We'll help you for however long it takes for us to get off though. We're a part of a counter terrorist unit so you can trust us to do all we can."

"You don't understand how greatful everybody in the village is for you two, sir. We've had small militias formed around the island using guerrilla tactics just doing hit and runs but they just don't have the weaponry. Everything we have is old and brittle. Those guns your friend is after will help us immensely."

"Look, can you stop pestering me bud? Unless you've got something or somebody who can help, I'd rather not spend too much time chit chatting if that is okay."

"Yes yes! I will be back soon. One of the boys had snatched a pirate a few days ago for ransom. I can go fetch him!"

"You actually got yourselves a hostage?"

"Yes!"

"Grab him. I'll check in with my friend, he can get information from anybody. Keep men with guns on him though, don't need him doing anything funny."

"Okay sir, I do that now. Be back soon!"

Erik rolled his eyes as the local left, "I really fucking hope we get out of her soon or I'm going to lose my shit. The middle eastern locals weren't nearly as bad." He thought as he reached for his radio to contact Luca. "So, any news? You've been silent for about an hour."

"Go outside fuck face."

"What?"

"Go. Out. Side. Fuck. Face."

Erik sighed and picked his radio up from the table and walked outside. "Luca, how the hell?"

Luca hopped out of the stolen pickup truck laughing, "They were packing up and getting ready to transport everything that is currently in the truck so I killed everybody except for those two friends of mine. I knocked their teeth out and put a bullet in a knee each just for good measure. Got a few nicks from somebody who got behind me but he only had a switchblade, nothing too serious."

"What did you do with the leftover supplies?"

"Gasoline. Captain Crunch had lots of fuel stored there as well so I dumped it all on what was left and left a trail so set it all ablaze. There may or may not be burning corpses as well but we can pretend that those don't exist if you don't mind."

"This island is going to be your playground, isn't it?"

"Maybe. I'm not a fan of everything that can kill me here, but I'll get over it. Anything I do isn't a war crime if we aren't at war."

"You're a really shitty operator, you know that right?"

Luca slammed the truck's door and tossed his fellow American the keys. "Yeah but you and I get along from patriotism and shit, not how we are at our job. Besides, I need a way to keep myself entertained if we're going to be here. I haven't been the old me in a while, it's a nice fresher from being the good guy. I always did consider myself the anti-hero type. Something like… Fuckin Deadpool, or Wolverine or something. Like, I'm a good guy but I do bad things."

"Stop monologuing please, this is real life and not a fuckin movie. I don't fear anything here except for you losing your humanity."

"I'll be fine. Haven't gone completely apeshit before, you can trust that I won't now. Besides. I give it a month or less until help comes. Gotta remember mate, we crashed in a plane." Luca replied, tapping his head while smirking.

"If we're lucky. Who knows what happened to it's black box. We still haven't found that one Malaysian Flight Luca. For all we know, we may end up like that."

"They'll send Olivier to help find us, I guarantee it. We're some of the most important soldiers out there, there's no way they'll just leave us stranded. Besides. A year or two isn't too bad. Gives us time to think."

"You're just trying to find a positive in this and you want to get the fuck out of here." Erik said, unimpressed.

"I want my cars. They're all in America and I'm stuck here. I'm less than positive. That is why this shit hole is going to be my playground I've decided. I have nothing to lose at this moment because I know Grace and Sanaa are both in good hands. Harry knows what he's doing. You do have a family to worry about back in the states now that I think about it but other than that, I'm not too sure."

"Wow, way to make the situation better. Moving on though, I'll deal with your little package, you have something important to do. There's going to be a group of people following this little Asian man, 5'6 or so, receding hairline, and they're going to have a hostage. He's a pirate. Do whatever you want to him, just extract every inch of information you can so we can do something about this organization."

"Sounds fine to me. What are you planning on doing with the guns, ammunition, and guys?"

"Pull the guys out and do what you want with them. I'm going to organize some form of militia with the locals. They've been doing unorganized attacks so helping them is the least I can do to get them organized for helping us."

"So I can do anything to these guys?"

"Whatever you want to. I couldn't give a damn with our current situation."

"I wish I had your blowtorch right now."

"You're fucking insane."

"Not quite, but I've heard that many times so thank you."

Erik's eyes rolled as he opened the truck's door and dragged the two men out, letting them fall onto the dirt below. "When the local arrives is when we can start doing our own things."

"Sounds good to me. Want me to take these guys inside?"

"Follow the dude I explained earlier. They have a secret room where you can do whatever you want to these fucks."

"Sounds good to me."

 _15 Minutes Later_

"Mister, I am back with three armed men and the captured man!"

"Good. Luca, come outside and drag your two fucks. I know you've been in their messing with them. Just drag them out." Erik shouted, "Do you guys have a leader or something? I'll help them organize and train a militia."

"Yes! We have a leader, she's a wonderful woman, she is royalty here."

"What's her name and can you take me to her?"

"Citra, the warrior goddess of our island. It is not up to me if you are able to talk to her. It would be up to her guardian's decisions of if you are worthy enough."

"Then I guess we'll have to find out, huh? Luca!"

"What do you want?" Luca asked, bringing the two unconscious men out from the shack.

"I'm going with this guy to take me to their 'Warrior Goddess' to try and form some form of militia against the pirates. You'll take the henchmen and they'll guard you and the hostages as well as be your little helpers. Just don't kill them. That is until they talk. Do whatever you please after that. I don't give a fuck how you treat them."

"Sounds like a plan then." Luca replied, turning towards his guardians. "Well my new friends, where shall we be conducting this?"

"Follow. Us."

Luca looked towards his fellow American who just shrugged in response. "Well I guess you can go fuck off to whoever it is you're seeing mate. I'll take care of this nice and tighty."

Erik waved him off. "Well dude, let's go meet this so called warrior goddess chick and see what deals can be made." He told the smaller Asian man.

"Of course sir! Follow me, we'll go to my car and we can go to her temple!"

"Um, okay? Luca, I'll radio you if I need anything."

"Got it. I'll keep ya nearby bud."

While Erik left to go with the oddly excited man, Luca was left with the four guards, all but one carrying a captive pirate. "Lead the way boys, I'm not sure where you want me to go or how many of you know English."

"You'd be surprised," One of the men said, "Most of us know English due to the presence of other Americans nearly half a century back. While we may sound weird, speak it brokenly, or just understand it but can't speak it, you'll be able to communicate with most of us just fine for the most part."

"Seriously? That's actually cool as hell man."

"I guess but don't let that fog your mind up. You have a job to do. What do you plan on doing?"

Without any hesitation, Luca began to say everything he wanted to do to the poor bastards. "Honestly, the two I brought in are grunts. They know jack shit so they're death fodder. I'd scare tactics don't work, I'll be sure to harm your hostage until he squeaks. That reminds me, could you bring me a pistol and a blowtorch possibly? I think those will end up being extremely useful if he's a resilient man. I just recommend staying outside as to avoid seeing everything I'll be doing."

"Go crazy. We do not need scum like them alive and breathing on our island."

"Perfect. That's all I need to hear."

The group were only walking for five or so minutes, arriving at what looked to be another regular village house. "Aldo, get the door." The man who wasn't carrying a pirate took the lead and opened the door for the rest of the group. As everybody entered, the two men Luca had brought in were thrown on to the floor while the remaining captive was forced into a chair and tied down. "In that dresser and the desk next to it has everything you should need for this. We'll go bring you a pistol and a blowtorch like you requested. We'll knock when we arrive with those tools for you to use."

"Shall I get started with my magic then?"

"Of course my comrade. Break this man's will to go on and make sure he feels life is not worth living. Just don't make too much of a mess, we would like to use this place more times than for just today."

Luca modded his head as a mischievous smile grew. "Let's not be wasting any time then. Get me what I asked for and until then, I'll get the job done, partner."

The men closed the door behind them and left to go get the two tools Luca had requested. "Well my friend," Luca said to the blindfolded man, "You already heard the basics of what I plan. I plan on killing you if you don't pipe up."

"Fuck you penutur bahasa Inggeris…" The man mumbled.

"Oh, what's that? Would you like to repeat yourself or a retry to fix your first mistake?"

"Neither."

Luca rolled his eyes at the pirate's response. "First question, and this one is personal. Who the fuck is Vaas? Is he your pansy leader?"

No response.

"Okay okay, I see how it is my dude. You just need a little warming up is all. A bit of buddy to buddy action." Luca went behind the man and unraveled the rag that the villagers had used as a blindfold, throwing the rag at the two still unconscious tied up hostages. "Here, let me give you a little bit of help with you decisions that you'll be making in this here room, I'm trying to make this as easy as possible for you in case you have a family but I can change that real quick, okay faggot?" Luca threatened, turning the chair to face the unconscious men. "Know these two?"

"Saya kenal mereka, my privates."

"So in this chain of command, you're their upper? Ha! How could a pussy like you actually manage to get your way up the ladder?"

"Fuck you, American cunt. You should stay out of our affairs."

"Oooo, somebody seems to be a bit mouthy," Luca said, strolling into the pirate's view. "Look here 'matey,' I am here against my will because of you fucks. You shot our plane out of the goddamn sky and the Vaas fucker took all of my buddy and I's gear. We're having to make do with what you guys and the locals have from imports because of you fuckers."

Knowing he had the free will to do whatever he liked, he grabbed a pair of nearby scissors and began to spin them on one of his fingers. "So tell me, where is your HQ located?"

"I don't know. We have several locations."

"Which is the most important?"

"All. They're outposts."

"Wrong answer." Luca walked up to the man with a smirk on his face. "Would you like to change your answer?" The pirate only glared at Luca, "Well in that case…" The American operator took the scissors and lined them up with the Asian man's left ear. "I guess you don't need this anymore."

The man's screams echoed throughout the building as the scissors went further down the side of his head. A smile flared up in Luca's face at the sound of the man's pain. With the final snip, Luca watched the bloody cartilage fall to the floor.

"You're lucky I don't want you fainting on me, I have answers I still need." He whispered into the remaining ear. Luca took the matchbox Erik had given him earlier out of his pocket and dropped about half of them out to use for cauterizing before putting the box back, "Don't you worry, you won't feel a thing." He continued as he began lighting the matches.

Shrieks filled the room as Luca pressed the lit matches against the man's head, both cauterizing the wound, burning surrounding hair, and melting some of his skin.

"Look. This is nothing so far, I can go a lot further. I don't need to waterboard you because I assume drowning isn't a fear of yours. What are these outposts for?"

"They… they serve as storage for pirates, goods, and weaponry…"

"Is that all?"

The man gave a subtle nod as a response. "Who is in charge of this entire operation?"

"You'll have to ask Vaas…"

"Where is that son of a bitch?"

"Saya tidak tahu… I couldn't tell you, he does his own thing."

Luca paced behind the tied up man, thinking about what else he could possibly get him to cough up that could be important to him and the others they'd be helping while on this "vacation."

"Do you guys have some form of radio communication, like a way to get a hold of the others?"

"Why would that matter to you, you son of a bitch?"

Luca snatched a knife off of a nearby table and jabbed it into the man's thigh, covering his mouth to muffle any sounds of pain that tried to escape. "Because, WE need to get the fuck out of here. My friend and I aren't supposed to be here, we assume that your group is who shot our fucking plane down. Maverick and I both have girlfriends, friends, family in his case, and much more awaiting us back at home. We have been M.I.A for nearly a month because of the group that YOU are a part of meaning that any and all information I can get out of you is useful for everybody who is against you. I am doing you a goddamn favor by interrogating you rather than killing your ass like I've already done to a lot of your buddies. Those two in the corner are in the same fucking boat as you. It's up to me whether I'm satisfied with the information that you have given me and that will be the deciding factor on who lives and who dies between the three of you in this room, do you understand that motherfucker?" Luca glared into the tear filled eyes of his captive, "I said, do you fucking understand! I don't give two shits what I have to do to break you!" He shouted, letting go of both the knife and man to chuck a left hook into the man's lower jaw.

A loud knock came from the door behind the two men. Luca allowed himself to take a deep breath before turning to answer the door. "Did you bring what I asked for?" He asked as he swung the door open.

"Yes, here, a full pistol and a blowtorch. Use them however you feel needed."

"Thank you, it's much appreciated. You guys can do whatever, I'll be done here soon."

"We'll wait outside for you."

Luca shrugged, "Don't question anything you hear inside here. It's all a part of the process, my process."

"Of course, comrade."

Luca turned back to his subject and closed the door behind him. "Now tell me," Luca said as he checked the bullet count in the pistol that was handed to him, "What are your comms like? Do you have anything that can connect to around the world rather than Walkie Talkies and radios connected to local channels? I need some form of communication to the outside world damnit."

The man looked at Luca and shook his head, "Not here you son of a bitch, this is no man's land for the most part so what happens here stays here. Nobody on the outside gets to hear of anything that happens."

"That doesn't answer my question" Luca replied, pointing the pistol at the closest of the two knocked out pirates, "I don't care how far up the chain of command I have to go, is there anybody who even remotely has a chance of having connections to the outside world?"

"Only the big big boss, but you'll never reach him because you'll have to get past Vaas."

Without any hesitation, Luca unloaded six of the twelve bullets provided into his target's head and chest. "I'm going to fucking kill each and every one of you pirate fucks if I need to to get off the fucking island." He said in a dead and serious tone.

"What the fuck is wrong with you! Those two men are hostages! They are defenseless and you and and fucking shoot my man without any second thoughts? You're a goddamn monster!" Somebody get me out of here! Lelaki ini memang gila dan akan membunuhku!" The man shouted and pleaded.

Luca rolled his eyes and aimed the gun at his toy's foot and took a single shot. More blood curling screams and cries erupted and echoed throughout the room. "Nobody is coming to save you, you're not important to anybody. Nobody has even realized that you're missing I bet. I may be nonexistent to most of the world with nothing more than my name and occupation being known, yet classified, but I'll go in history in multiple parts of the world. You'll be forgotten about in less than a week. I can guarantee it. Now, if you want to make it out alive to live and be forgotten another day, all you have to do is cooperate with me. Lose the fucking attitude and drop the god damn façade of you being a tough guy. You're nothing more than a little gypsy who somehow landed himself power over those who are even weaker and more pathetic. Now, will you be a good lad?"

The teary eyed man nodded in fear and shuddered when Luca put the handgun into his waistline, "What did you shoot the plane down with? Some sort of launcher? A turret? I assume the technology you get to work with is decent considering everything I've came across is stolen black market weaponry from Russia and the Middle East."

"I am not sure mister, I was not the one who shot your plane out of the sky. If I had to guess though, it would have to been some sort of lock-on launcher and it was some trigger happy soldier who made the decision to down you."

"Where's the nearest civilization to us that has a connection to the outside world?"

"Twenty or thirty miles away, I'm not sure the direction though."

"Another question, you fucks are pirates. If you're anything like the damn Somalians, you've stacked a US battleship or destroyer. Where's the nearest one if that is the case?"

"We have yet to come across Americans who aren't tourists…"

Before Luca could say anything more, Erik's voice came in loud and clear through the Walkie Talkie in the corner of the room "Luca, this woman would like to meet you. She refuses to talk to me but is willing to speak with you about helping form a much better militia here on the island. I'm on my way back to pick you up so finish up your questioning ASAP."

Luca snatched the Walkie Talkie from the table, "Sure, I'll finish this up. Hurry your ass up."

"Roger that."

Luca set the device back down and turned to the two remaining men. "Well, it was going to end this way regardless, I just didn't expect it so soon." Lucas unholstered the pistol and shot a single at his remaining tied up hostage before turning to the tied up man.

"Tell me, what's your final wish?"

"I-"

"Don't care, not my problem." He said as he grabbed the blowtorch and a lighter. "All things have to come to an end my friend, and I'd like for yours to be as painful as possible." Luca state's as he lit the propane and adjusted the flame.

Fear filled the man as Luca approached him with the lot blowtorch, "No, don't fucking do what I think you're going to do! Please, anything other than that! Just shoot me!"

"Tsk tsk, fuck off." Luca grabbed the man by the hair to keep his head steady and began to melt the man's lips to prevent any more of the ear wretched screams from escaping. The man kicked and struggled but it was no use as Luca allowed the flame to increase in size and began melting the rest of the skin and hair on his face. Muffled screams of pain came from the man but Luca was unfazed as he watched the flesh begin to drip down the man's face, slowly revealing his skull and cartilage. The noise eventually died down to nothingness, signaling the man's death.

Proud of what he had done, he exited the building and took out a cigarette to keep him busy until Erik arrived."

* * *

 **Asian Pacific Archipelagos**

 **October 21st, 2019**

 **11:30AM**

Erik watched in disgust as Luca bent over this table, a rolled up piece of paper up to his nose as he began snorting a line of coke that a local had offered him.

"Do I even want to know how much cocaine you have done since we fucking got here?"

"No, no you would not. But who fuckin care. We've been here for fucking ever with no help. I'm just trying to make my situation better. You've seen how I have been recently, no remorse, no sympathy, no empathy, nothing. Not even towards the people we're helping, Citra's people, hell, I don't even care for the people fucking Vaas has captured. I'm just doing me at this point."

"I don't care what you do if I'm honest. Just don't lose yourself and stay true to what we agreed on. They are providing us with shelter, food, water, a help with leadership and order for all the men and women who want to help us fight against the pirates."

"Yeah yeah I know. The high just allows me to stay sane at this point. Hell, I've even been smoking at least two or three times a week. I normally avoid that but it gives me something to do and can get my mind off shit."

"Just don't get addicted to either. I don't need your will to live to be relying on coke and nicotine."

"Yeah I'll do my best. The cigarettes will be easy to cut out because I can't stand the taste. Coke on the other hand, a nice high is always nice. I used to use it a little bit when I was younger but cut it out when I left my old group. I decided it was better to lay off the drugs because I knew I was alone after that. I needed my mind to be clear. At this point in time though, we've been missing for how long? Over a month or two at this point with no signs of anybody searching for us? Unlike you, I would rather make the best of a new life that I have to put up with. Face it, we haven't been found and won't be found for a while seeing how long we have been here. I would rather just put up with the cards we have been dealt than live like we did beforehand but in a totally new environment." Luca grabbed a nearby cloth and wiped what little excess of the fine powder had remained on his nose.

"Don't you feel like you're losing anything with this though? Parts of your humanity, who you are as a person, you've clearly lost a lot of emotions you once had at least somewhat of." Erik claimed.

"Trust me. I am doing fine. I'm just starting to care what happens to both me and everybody on this island less and less as we stay here longer. This place is a playground for me at this point in time. Whatever happens, happens, okay? There is no point in trying to change what we've already started."

"That may be the case in your opinion but there are more appropriate ways to come to terms with all that's happened. Drugs are not one of them."

"I'd rather you not lecture me buddy. I've learned to deal with problems on my own, and it has normally worked out for the most part. Not always I will admit, but most of the time."

"Then I guess we'll see in due time on how you perform. It's not often I get to see another operator commit to such acts."

"And I'll be sure to make it to where this becomes common. I tend to cross lines but this is one I'd rather not challenge. I've fought addiction once before."

"Then I'll be sure to make that addiction both your first and last. I'm not going to allow you to get hooked on cocaine."

"And I appreciate that. Somebody looking out is always better than a person clinging to your back."

* * *

Well I cut a part of the chapter off because I just wasn't able to force myself to write it. I'll just put it in the next chapter if I ever manage to write another chapter. Life has just been a struggle and the few times I had the time and will to write, I did. It's just that in the last two weeks, I've been having really bad mental problems and I'm just not in a good place so I'm sorry for delaying this chapter longer than I had to. I'll try to get the next chapter finished eventually but I have no promises. I love this story to death and do not want to leave it to do as an unfinished project. Thank you for everybody who has been reading over the last 6 months though and I appreciate you all for allowing me to have 18000+ views.

I will see you all next chapter if it ever happens.


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